The Tragic Tale of the Knight, the Mage, and the Lord
by aestheticNinja
Summary: To all and to any who will play the game Sburb, I leave this story as a guide. Learn from our mistakes, and do not fall into the tragedy we have created for ourselves. Our session was one of destruction to begin with. It was never meant to see the joys of a happy ending. But that was our session. That was the story we created. Make sure your story doesn't end like ours.
1. Before We Begin

**Before We Begin…**

_(Pesterjournal: Omega Session-July 19__th__, 2013-09:46:54 PM)_

Before we begin, I must ensure you that this stuff that your about to read, this mind blowing shit that will take your brain to Fuck It City and back again on the Delirious Train of Confusion patented in Hellsville, New Jersey and custom built in the train yards of Nopetown, this stuff your about to read, it happened.

It's real.

This isn't just some sort of mindless charade of fantasy that you usually see on your average everyday fan fictions. There will be no grand opening, as seen above and below, there will be no frivolous adding or affairs of fancy, and there most certainly will be no false information. The purpose of this document is not to entertain, although the coincidence may arise several times throughout the prose is likely. However, the main objective that I wish to achieve here is to record the various adventures that my cohorts and I, my friends, have experienced while playing this God-forsaken game.

I should know about the horrors that exist, because I've had the honor, or perhaps, the misfortune, of playing through it.

The reason for this text's existence lies within the ability of one's learning capabilities. This story, this narrative that I'm about to tell you, it serves the function of a somewhat capable guide to the trials and tribulations that you may experience while playing this game.

To anyone, and I mean _anyone_, who has dared to download the infernal game to his or her computer, and has openly brought the destruction of their planet, and consequently, their entire race, please read this story.

I will try to be as cooperative as I can throughout my documentation, as I will likely be unable to contact anyone with questions upon the completion of my session. To those who have, are, or will play the game _Sburb_, these are my words.

This is my session.

This is our story.

I beg of you to read.

Otherwise, I wish you all the very best of luck.

Sincerely,

aestheticNinja AKA

Connor Sawyer

The Knight of Space


	2. P--Everything Starts Out Fine and Dandy

**BEGIN PROLOUGUE:**

**THE CLOCK KEEPS TICKING EVEN WHEN YOU'RE ALSEEP**

_I must be dreaming. I never would have imagined flying would feel so good._

_Higher and higher I flew, above the shining golden city that emanated an otherworldly glow. The sky above was a bright cerulean blue, unlike anything I have ever seen before. The color faded from cerulean, to azure, to navy, and finally, a pitch-black shade upon the horizon of the city. It was so dizzying, yet at the same time, invigorating. I just kept laughing and laughing as I raced across the strange atmosphere of the golden planet._

_Strange as it was, I somehow knew it was a dream, yet, at the same time, I was puzzled by the fact that it couldn't be. It was just too good to be true, yet, at the same time, it felt so real, I've never felt that a dream could be this real._

_I started__ to get sleepy (is it even possible to get sleepy while you dream?) and flew towards a gargantuan chain that locked itself to the base of the golden planet. Above, it stretched high into the blue sky, ending at what seemed to be a smaller version of the golden city planet I was on. I flew up and around the chain, laughing like a five year old on a kiddy ride, twisting and turning like an acrobat around and through the chain as I approached the moon._

_I stopped spinning with happiness and flew towards a golden tower, a giant sphere, and then…_

Darkness.

I woke with a start soon after. Breathing heavily, I examined my surroundings, confirming once again I was in my room, sleeping in my own bed. I took a few deep breaths and swung my feet around the bed and slammed them down onto the thinly carpeted floor, feeling cold from the extended period of fuzzy warmth my feet had experienced during my slumber. I yawned shamelessly and scratched my midsection. The first thought entered my head.

"What time is it?" I wondered out loud to myself groggily as I carelessly reached for my iphone.

My room is pretty straightforward. It has a simple white carpet stained brownish gray over time. Next to my bed was my desk, piled high with all sorts of documents and drawings. Standing alone amongst the forest of paper was my macbook, glowing faintly with its metallic shine.

Next to that were two statues shining with a similar light. One was of a brave roman gladiator. My grandmother had given it to me as a souvenir gift many years ago when she traveled to Italy, and despite the constant complaints from family and friends, I keep it close despite it's worth. The other was a fearsome dragon, hanging over a globe wit little flecks of glitter that floated in the water. A friend had given it to me as a good bye present a couple years ago when I moved to Alabama. I never heard from him again. Although it's silly, I sometimes like to think that my friend was reincarnated into the small figure, although the more rational side of my head, as well as the rest of the world, regard that mindset as a simple wish that will never come true. Despite those words, I still kept the statue.

Across from my messy desk was another desk, one specifically modeled for the pleasures of artistic pursuits. Many a time was spent at that desk, having the scars of paint and graphite stains to prove its worth and use. Next door, in a rather dark corner of the room, a bright tan bookshelf radiated the sunlight that bounced off it from the narrow windows on either side of the far wall of my room. Piled high were all sorts of comics, manga, and books that I often took pleasure in.

Other than that, my room was pretty bland. There were no flights of fantasy; there was no fire pole. There was no magic door that led to a parallel universe, and there most certainly were not any magical gnomes that occupy the attic above my head.

The frog ruins in the woods behind my house, however, were a different story.

I chilled as I recalled their presence. They were really strange indeed, a cluster of turrets arranged in a circular pattern around a large, Mayanesque temple with a large frog head that decorated the top. It wasn't far from the house, at most about a fifth of a mile through a thick forest and across a small stream. In the winter, when the trees lost their foliage and became dead and bare, the ruins could be vaguely seen through the branches of trees from the windows of my room.

Ever since I moved in to the house with my family a couple years ago, the frog ruins had always caught my otherwise undivided attention. I often left the backyard behind our house and hopped over the fence to the area in the woods the strange buildings occupied. However, I seemed to be the only one among my family to take note of the ruins. When I brought it up at dinner often a time, my family would often mention it, and return to their meals and previous conversations. It's as if the otherworldly structure was just a mere neighbor, capable of nothing more than providing a strange view from my bedroom, which was the only room in the house that faced such a thing.

The ruins often struck me as odd. A friend of mine, Sarah, who lives up the street, theorized that they may have been the ruins of some sort of Native American temple, although she highly doubted it, as all of the recorded tribes said to have inhabited the area didn't acknowledge, let alone worship, frogs. Still, she, along with all of my other friends, seemed to be the only ones with any sort of interest in the ruins whatsoever.

However, I shrugged off the slightly more than unusual feel that originated in the ruins, and returned to my phone.

I couldn't believe it.

"I slept in this late?!" I exclaimed loudly.

It was preposterous how late I slept in. It was already five to noon!

"God damn it," I mumbled to myself with a disgusted face. "I was supposed to meet them there a half an hour ago."

As it on some sort of divine induced cue, my pesterchum app lit up with a furious greeting from my friends.

"This will be good," I sarcastically reassured myself as I slowly tapped the rounded square of the application.

_(petitePsychiatrist began pestering aestheticNinja at 11:56 AM)_

PP: Hey.

AN: Oh.

AN: Uh…

AN: Good morning, Sarah…

PP: What the hell are you doing, man?

AN: …

PP: Alyx, Andrew, and I are all waiting for you at the Library!

PP: Geez, where are you?

AN: Uh, sorry…

PP: Let me guess…

PP: you slept in again, didn't you.

AN: It's not my fault!

AN: It's summer! I should be enjoying my youth!

PP: lol.

PP: I'm joking.

PP: But we've been waiting here for a while.

PP: So get your butt down here ASAP!

PP: Alyx is already getting antsy.

AN: Uh oh…

AN: Be there in fifteen minutes, okay?

PP: I hope so.

AN: Alright, see you later!

AN: Oh!

AN: One more thing.

PP: What?

AN: I…had another dream last night…

PP: Oh?

PP: The one with the golden city?

AN: Yes!

AN: I've been having them periodically for the past couple of months!

AN: And they just seem to get even more and more realistic with each passing dream.

AN: Do you think it means something?

PP: Maybe.

PP: I've been looking into it.

PP: But this is something we should discuss later.

PP: Right now, your ass is needed here pronto!

AN: Alright, Alright, I got it.

AN: Be there in a jiff!

PP: Connor?

AN: What?

PP: No one say "jiff" anymore.

AN: Whatever, see ya!

_(aestheticNinja ceased pestering petitePsychiatrist at 11:58 AM)_

I chuckled silently to myself as I shrugged out of bed. Sarah was such a good friend.

So were Alyx, and Andrew, of course. And Kim, and Laura, and Maddy, and Benji, and well, the list went on and on!

I've never felt so lucky in my life to have so many friends.

I ran into my bathroom and quickly showered down the awful stench that my body produced, and threw on some considerable clothes for the weather. It was the middle of July, so a blue T-shirt with printed clouds and khaki shorts made for ideal wear. Slipping into my brown shoes, I ran out of my room and into the hallway.

Right into my father.

Shit.

My dad gazed into my eyes with such a gaze, that my entire body shivered at the very knowledge of his presence. His black hair glistened slightly with the light shining on his hair from above as he stared at me menacingly. It was all I could to move backwards in fear.

He then walked past me with such a manner of nonchalance I thought that I would faint due to disbelief.

I shrugged it off. My father was always like that. Strange, unpredictable, and never said a word as he carried out his diabolical schemes to ruin my life. Last time, he took my computer for no reason at all. What a madman! I swear, the man has issues in his head.

To prevent such an unnecessary ordeal from happening again, I ran back into my room to captchalogue my macbook. Skaianet Industries was sure a wonderful company, they created the ability to store everyday objects into small cards! What convenience! Although my friends will groan when I mention the sylladex I use, I really ended up loving my Improv Modus.

The modus works in a pretty simplistic manner. In order to retrieve an object from the card, I must first write a story that contains the object in it. Some of the people I know find it distracting and a little inconvenient, but I find it useful and quite helpful, to be honest. It keeps my writing skills in check.

But enough dillydallying, I guess. I ran from my room, across the hallway, down the stairs, captchalogueing my car keys along the way, and bursting out the front door of the house.

The day was July 12th. And to be honest, I didn't think any day would have been any more beautiful. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing, and everything seemed to be going right.

Unfortunately for me, as I ran to the car and began fumbling with my modus, I didn't realize that it would be the last of what I would see in this dying world.


	3. P--The Japanese Drink Coffee At Night

Do you know that feeling you get when your late for something, and time gives the impression that it has been slowed down to the point where one minute equals three, but in reality, time is actually ticking faster then some sort of thirsty camel in the hot deserts of Egypt skipping desperately towards an oasis?

Yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now.

Sarah and Alyx often commented on how I was a terrible driver, and I can see now for the truth that I actually am. I was no less then some sort of escaped psychopath on a homicidal killing spree.

I turned onto the main road of the small town I lived in, swerving maddeningly into the right lane as some saner maniac honked his horn angrily at me. The man made a murderous glare and I gave him a sheepish, silly grin, complete with an indifferent shrug, in reply. In the end, I saw the man flip me off as I began my trek down the street.

"Well," I grumbled to myself once the man's car was out of view of my rear mirrors. "I guess some people are just born grumpy."

The city I lived in was actually no more then a small town, although that didn't discourage Friday lunch hour traffic. Cars disappeared and reappeared in front of me so fast, I couldn't even begin to distinguish what color they were before escaping my eyes. Everything while driving was a blur. The lights, the scenery, everything melted into one giant speed line racing on either side of the vehicle.

And before I knew it, I arrived at the Library, my car parked safe and sound amongst a sea of perfectly aligned vehicles. I once again captchalougued my keys into my Improve Modus and smirked self satisfactorily at myself in the car mirror. I was five minutes early then I had predicted in my chat conversation with Sarah. Boy, were they going to be happy.

The sliding doors of the establishment sluggishly parted at the sense of my presence, and a firm blast of cool air bombarded me from the front. I smiled with relief at the cool air that graced its being upon myself as I entered the building.

The Library of the small town I lived in was proportionate to the size of the said town. Needless to say, the interior of the building was tiny, with a few windows gracing light upon the musty books that overflowed from the metallic shelves they displayed themselves on. In random outposts throughout the building, sets of tables, chairs, and reclining seats rested ominously, as if their last occupant was devoured by the very gloominess of the library itself.

Although the mustiness of the library was a huge turn off in terms of the sleek postmodern style that was so popular nowadays, the library gave off a heartwarming aura despite the foreboding air that surrounded it. Cordially inviting strangers into its depths with not its appearance, but its wisdom.

And attractive it was. Already, clumps of people began forming at the tables, sprawling out their various materials for study. Some were struggling to complete their summer reading assignment, while others were indulging themselves in the pleasures of reading a good novel. The library was an appealing place to hang out in the hot months of summer, as it not only provided knowledge and entertainment, but relief from the brutal heat outside.

However, among the various groups I surveyed in the building, none of them possessed the familiar faces of my friends.

"Where the hell are they?" I muttered aloud.

The librarian sitting at the front desk peered up from her romance novella and made a disapproving scowl to my words. She then placed a wrinkled finger over her over embellished lips to silently converse the intolerance of such profanity.

"Oh, uh, sorry," I apologized sheepishly.

The librarian rolled her eyes with a sarcastic smile upon her face before returning to the depths of her material. After her gaze had escaped me, I stuck out my tongue with immature disdain before beginning my descent into the dark depths of the library.

After scavenging the very belly of the beast, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that the three had left the library some time ago.

"God fucking dammit," I swore to myself, peering around to make sure the seemingly omniscient eyes and ears of the librarian were absent from the picture.

"Well, what can I do?" I sighed to myself. Slumping into a cushy armchair.

Suddenly, I tensed into a anxious disposition.

"Oh shit," I hissed, jumping from the chair and darting behind a rather concealing shelf of science fiction anthologies. "Why the fuck is _he_ here?"

It was my damn neighbor.

No, it wasn't Sarah. She was my cool, not damn neighbor.

It was my _other _damn neighbor, the one that lived right next door to me.

_Him._

The man walked with such a nonchalant, joyous manner, that even a simple fool would know that he was up to something. He was silent, dead silent, as he flashed his bright white jeans and green T-shirt conspicuously to the public. And if that didn't work, the fact that the man seemed to burst with green electricity and had no face was enough to prove that the man's motive were not pure.

When we first moved in, I noticed him cutting the hedges by the side of our house. I, of course being the sane human being that I am, immediately reported the man's lack of facial features to my parents. But when they emerged from the house, me dragging them along, the man had disappeared. I found out from the locals that the house had apparently been vacant for years, and no one had claimed it as their abode. But I swear, every single day there is fair weather, I see that damnable figure out there, doing petty garden work or moving the lawn, spouting out green sparks of lightning as he did so. Of course, when I dragged some random responsible adult into the area, he once again vanishes. It's gotten to the point where people are starting to think I'm crazy.

Fortunately for me, Sarah and my other friends have caught glimpses of him to, especially Maddy, who actually lives two states over in Texas. Maddy says that she periodically sees the man on the hill outside of her house and in the town several times a week.

The man isn't just minding his own business either, oh no. The man, who we have all agreed to call "Damn Neighbor," often tries to make my friends and my life a miserable living hell.

For instance, Maddy was walking up the hill to fetch a Frisbee that had gone askew, and Damn Neighbor instantly appeared, and transported her to downtown Dallas. There was a whole commotion on the news about it when she returned two days later. She tried to explain to her parents, but they wouldn't listen, and she ended up being grounded for a month. Another time, while I was walking to school, he transported right in front of me, grabbed my backpack, and disappeared. I never saw it, or my important history project that was due that day, again. Sometimes, I swear Damn Neighbor knows everything about us, or perhaps, everything in general. I've constantly been wondering if Damn Neighbor was omniscient since the day he entered my life.

Fortunately for me, he seems to be a little wary of the frog ruins behind my house, so I chill out there whenever he seems to be in a mischievous mood. This is fortunate for me, because he seems to play jokes on me the most. Maddy just as much, but from what I've heard, she has other methods of keeping Damn Neighbor away. From what I've heard, it involves some sort of device she calls a "fern stated wall" or something like that.

Boy, did I wish I were near those frog ruins right now.

As he browsed the shelves, no one bothered to look up from their materials to awe at the faceless man. Typical. They were all under Damn Neighbor's spell. Damn Neighbor was up to something. He was _always _up to something. He may have looked like he didn't notice me, but in the end, he always, always, _always _found me. That's how Damn Neighbor worked. He'd pretend that you didn't exist, and then, POW! He'd appear before you, make you scream so loud you wet your pants, and disappear before the crowd starts forming.

I hate Damn Neighbor so much.

He looked in my direction, and I held my breath. Lightning sparked from his faceless head curiously.

_Oh shit, _I thought as he inched towards the shelf I was hiding behind._ Has he found me already?_

I held my breath and prayed he just disappeared, and that I would never see him again. I squeezed my eyes shut, leaning hard against the rough books, wishing that Damn Neighbor would disappear.

I opened them, and peeked around the corner once more. Sure enough, he was gone.

I wiped the nervous, cold sweat from my brow as I turned the opposite direction.

And there he was, his white, blank face two inches from my nose.

The next thing I knew, I was in a rustic coffee shop, people staring from where I had come from.

"Shit!" I swore, looking around my surroundings. The people were screaming in another foreign language as they analyzed me. I turned to look out the window, and saw a night sky, and bright, neon colors with foreign letters dancing across the sides of the skyscrapers.

"Fuck," I swore, gathering information from my surroundings. "I'm in fucking Japan."

The curiosity of the crowd that had gathered long waned and many had looks of incredulous manners. Some were astonished, and currently calling their friends rapidly about the amazing thing that had just happened before them, while others, particularly the older folks, began shaking their heads and mumbling "Americans," in plain English with a strong accent.

And to make matters worse, someone was pestering me.

"What could it be now," I grumbled, pulling my phone out of my pants pocket, completely disregarding the crowd that had formed in front of me.

_(wackyTyrannosaur began pestering aesthecticNinja at 12:13 PM)_

WT: yo

AN: Ugh.

AN: Hey Maddy.

WT: whats up?

AN: The Damn Neighbor.

WT: oh shit

WT: OH SHIT.

WT: what did he do this time?

WT: hide your laptop on the roof?

WT: steal all your clothes and place them in random capitals of the world?

WT: come on, tell me

AN: He transported me to fucking Tokyo.

AN: In front of some late night coffee goers out for a treat at Japanese Starbucks.

AN: Right now, I'm being surrounded by the largest crowd of googly eyed Asians I've ever seen.

AN: It's like they're all baffled by my sudden appearance.

AN: It's really quite inconvenient.

AN: I mean, it's like eleven at night.

AN: Why are these fucking people drinking fucking coffee at FUCKING ELEVEN AT NIGHT?!

WT: idk man

WT: city folk are weird

AN: Amen to that.

AN: Oh god, I'm on the other side of the fucking planet!

AN: How in the hell do I even BEGIN to start getting home?

WT: im sorry, but im lolling right now

AN: …WHAT?!

WT: i mean, its so ironic.

WT: you absolutely adore anime

WT: and now youre complaining that you are in its birthplace.

AN: It's not Japan that upsets me.

AN: It's that Damn Neighbor!

AN: He's ruining my shit!

AN: Oh man…

WT: wut?

AT: I was supposed to meet Sarah at the Library RIGHT NOW!

AT: How the hell am I going to get back?!

WT: hmm…

WT: ive got a plan.

AT: Oh God.

AT: Please tell me this does not involve-

WT: the clouds that form in that golden city we dream about?

WT: jeez, ive told you already, the planet is called prospit

WT: when will you get that through your damn head?

WT: i mean, youre a fucking space player, you numbskull

WT: you were supposed to be already fully awake on prospit for years, but no…

WT: you have to go all sleepy inny until a couple months before the start of our session, and you have a terrible time explaining the visions in the clouds!

WT: talk about a handicapped space player…

WT: im surprised your not a page instead of a knight.

WT: but hey, that's skaias call, not mine.

AN: …

AN: What in the ever-living fuck are you talking about?

WT: you know what? never mind.

WT: were not even in the same session anyways.

WT: your prospit is different from mine

WT: but the clouds here say otherwise for some reason

WT: huh, weird…

AN: Sigh, well, all right.

AN: From what I've learned from these clouds over the past few months, it's that they are right 99 percent of the time.

WT: there right 100 percent of the time, buster

WT: and dont you ever forget that!

AN: Yeah, yeah…

AN: So what do I do?

WT: alright, just give me a sec…

Suddenly, before my very eyes, a large window appeared within the coffee shop. Patrons screamed with surprise at the arrival of such a large device.

From first glance, it looked like an average, everyday window, albeit with mechanical hickey doodads dotting the frames. Instead of a clear view that allowed one to see right through the glass to the other side, it was an opaque, milky white color that reminded me of, well, milk. The strange glass lit up with sparks of lightning now and again, giving the device a strange, otherworldly appearance.

I turned back to my pesterchum log.

AN: …Maddy?

WT: yyyeeesssss?

AN: What the hell is this thing before me?

WT: its a fenestrated wall!

WT: there are two sides to it.

WT: the other should transport you right back to the Library.

AN: Uh, not to be rude or anything…

AN: But how?

WT: you walk through it, you silly dunderhead!

WT: simple as that!

AN: Okay, not being a coward or anything,

AN: But the way that thing sparks around gives me a REALLY bad vibe.

AN: Are you sure there isn't any other way?

WT: nope!

AN: Oh.

AN: Well fuck.

WT: don't just stand there, get your rear in gear!

AN: Alright! Alright!

AN: Sheesh!

_(zombieBehemoth began pestering aestheticNinja at 12:16 PM)_

ZB: Hey Connor.

ZB: Alyx, Zarah, and I were wondering where you were.

ZB: I mean, you zaid you'd be here, right?

WT: hi andrew!

ZB: Holy zhit!

ZB: I thought I ended you!

WT: lololol, whelp, your plan failed miserably, you zombie-freak,

ZB: WHAT DID YOU JUZT CALL ME?!

WT: i mean, that typing quirk man

WT: sooooo unattractive, if you catch my drift.

AN: You've got to be kidding me.

ZB: What are you talking about, Zawyer?!

ZB: Thiz woman here, I warned you about her!

ZB: I told you, thiz woman iz fucking evil!

WT: oohh? Am i now?

WT: im flattered! thank you so much!

_(grayscaleDictator began pestering wackyTyrannosaur at 12:17 PM)_

GD: Hey maddy, i

GD: WHOA!

GD: What in the ever-living fuck of our great god's name happened in THIS mad mess of an armageddon?

AN: You saw the above?

GD: I saw the above.

WT: ugghh, you ruined everything, lauren!

WT: andrew was flirting with me something awful before you showed up!

ZB: I ZURE AZ HELL WAZ NOT!

AN: Maddy, leave him alone!

WT: fuck you, connor

WT: im having the time of my life!

AN: *Facepalms loudly within the Japanese Coffee Shop

ZB: You're in a Japaneze Coffee Zhop?

GD: You're in a Japanese coffee shop?

WT: lolololololololololololololol!

AN: It's a long, painful story involving Damn Neighbor.

GD: lololol! That Damn Neighbor strikes again!

AN: B/

AN: Shut up, Lauren.

ZB: Damn Neighbor zapped you to Japan, I take it.

AN: That sums it up in a nutshell, yes.

WT: lol, hurry up connor!

WT: the wall wont be there forever!

AN: I know! I'm going!

ZB: Don't puzh the boy, bitch!

WT: make me!

I rolled my eyes as I directed my attention away from the chat log and back towards the fenestrated wall that Maddy had set up for me somehow. I took a deep breath, and held it in.

"Welp," I nodded to myself. "Here goes nothing!"

And I crashed through the wall with the force of a thousand men.

I tumbled over and over again through inky blackness, until finally, I emerge into the light, and a familiar friend grabbed me by the arm.

"You are really crazy, sometimes, Connor," Alyx smiled, her brown eyes and brown hair swiftly tugged to one side as she helped me off my feet.

"Thanks Alyx," I nodded, brushing dust off my knees before observing my surroundings.

I was back in the library, the same as it was before, but this time, Sarah, Alyx, Andrew, and Olivia were all there, Alyx's attention was on me, but Sarah and Olivia were in the process of tearing Andrew's phone and himself apart from one another.

"Andrew, please!" Olivia begged, her feet digging into the floor as she did all in her power to keep him from letting it all go on his phone. "She's just being a troll!"

"She's provoking you, Andrew!" Sarah enforced, her blonde hair bobbing as she signed off of his pesterchum. "I'm sorry, but this is for your own good!"

She slid the phone into her jean pocket, and there it stayed.

"Now let's all calm down," she suggested, raising a finger into the air to imply that her comment was meant to be taken seriously by all parties in the room.

"Come on, all together," she continued. "Breathe in, breathe out."

Everyone, even I, who was calm and reluctant to follow her command initially, fell under her spell, and began to breath in and out, slowly and peacefully.

"Alright," Sarah announced once everyone, but especially Andrew, had calmed down from their bout of frustration and anger. "So, how's it going, Connor?"

"It's going alright," I smiled. "I mean, Damn Neighbor was here just a minute ago and transported me to Japan. So it was, wait, hang on a minute."

I stuck an accusatory finger at Sarah, raising my eyebrows in suspicion.

"Where the hell were you guys? I was looking for you throughout the entire Library! You know, before Damn Neighbor showed up."

Alyx sheepishly raised a large cup of coffee to her head.

"You said you would be about fifteen minutes, so we went and got coffee at the place across the road."

"I met these guys there," Olivia butted in as well, raising a hand. "I decided to come and join you guys because it sounded fun!"

"Auugh!" I groaned, struggling with my hair to express my frustration at the revelation of their position. "I was waiting here for you guys!"

"Think of it as payback," Olivia devilishly smirked. "Don't leave us waiting to catch some Z's, man."

I sighed to relieve my stress.

"Duly noted," I admitted as I hung my head in defeat.

"So," Sarah nodded, looking around at the Library. "You know why we're here, right?"

"I have absolutely no idea," I answered.

"Well, originally, we were going to do some summer homework," Andrew said. "But after pestering you, Sarah has had a, well, change of plans."

"Yes," Sarah nodded. "We are going to have a psychology club meeting!"

"But psychology club doesn't officially start 'till fall," I pointed out, not that I was complaining. It was fun to talk about Psychology and stuff, especially with Sarah. Sarah was exceptionally good with the knowledge of the mind, and never left a reason to not exploit it to the greatest of its ability. She was the president of psychology club at our local school, and had no problem boasting her status as well. However, she was unusually modest about such a feat whenever friends and family brought it up.

"Well, yes," She admitted, "but the fact that you brought up the golden city dream thing got me thinking."

"About what?" Olivia asked.

"Well, about the dreams! If they mean something!" She shouted as she threw her hands into the air. "Dreams have so much to do with psychology, it's not even funny. And what a better place to find out about these "dreams" then in the Library!"

I shrugged.

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed.

"Then let's get digging!"


	4. P--A Brief Intro to Psychoanalyzation

"Anything yet?"

"Nothing."

I sighed with frustration as I lazily leaned back in the wooden chair I was currently seated at, the thick book in front of me opened and useless to my current needs and thoughts.

"We've been at it for an hour, Sarah," I motioned, her nose deep within an even thicker book whose words were so large and unfamiliar, I could have easily mistaken them for a foreign language if I wasn't careful.

"Calm down," she said, not once taking her eyes from the dizzying tome. "This is so interesting and phenomenal it's not even funny."

"You keep saying that," Andrew moaned. "What's so not funny?"

"Well, you see, a recurring dream is actually not that uncommon," Sarah began to explain as she swiveled her hips around to face Andrew and I. "Although there is a lot of uncanny mythos behind it. A lot of people believe that the presence of one actually is connected to the future in some way, shape, or form, a sort of gateway to speak. Before something happens in reality, it happens in your dreams because you sense them. This "dream fortune-telling" so to speak is a form of Extrasensory Perception. However, the scientific properties of Extrasensory Perception have yet to be clarified in the actual field of scientific studies, rendering it an unknown variable in fields pertaining to approved sciences, rendering it a pseudo-science."

Andrew and I exchanged glances.

"Could you perhaps repeat that in English?"

"You're seeing the future in your dreams with ESP, dude," Alyx bluntly translated while she lazily read a thinner, but just as confusing text on the subject in a corner of the room.

I gave her a confused look.

"I'm seeing the _future_?"

"Well, there _is _a more scientifically accurate theory."

Sarah adjusted her glasses and stood up from her seat.

"Most dreams contain messages that serve to teach us something about ourselves. With recurring dreams, the message may be so important or powerful that it just will not go away. The frequent repetition of such dreams forces you to pay attention and confront the dream. The dream is trying desperately to tell you something. The repetitive patterns in your dream can reveal some of the most valuable information on yourself. It may point to a conflict, situation or matter in your waking life that remains unresolved or unsettled. Or some urgent underlying message in your unconscious is demanding to be understood."

"So I need to confront like a fear or something?" I asked once again. "If they are actually as common as you say, why are you taking a sudden interest in mine?"

"Well, you see, repetitive dreams like that are often nightmarish or frightening in order to grab you attention," she answered, bushing a wayward bang of hair behind her ears. "In addition, you are not the only one who is experiencing dreams like this. If I recall, Maddy has had dreams like this for years, although she seems to enjoy them to their fullest extent, and she relates her endeavors in the golden city to a second life."

"So what does this all mean?" I asked impatiently.

"What it means," Sarah hastily concluded, snapping the book shut with a forceful flick of her wrist, "Is that this whole mess was analyzed too early, and as such, was a complete waste of time."

Andrew, Alyx, and Olivia groaned in harmony as they shuffled to their feet from their painful studying positions. They all rubbed their eyes from their static reading positions and began to get ready for looking exercises.

"Well, I'd better call my dad," I sighed, reaching for my phone in my sylladex.

"Why?"

"I just want him to know where I am," I answered back, as I began writing or story about a woman who fell in love with her phone. "The guy likes to keep tabs on me. And if I'm not careful, I might not be seeing you guys for a month."

"Dude, you're turning eighteen, like, tomorrow!" Alyx complained. "You're dad doesn't have a say in what goes on in your life anymore! You can enter and leave the house as you wish!"

"Mm-hm," I mumbled as I concluded the story and granted access to my phone. "I really don't want to strife with him again. You know him with his dictionarykind strife specibus. He'll knock me out with the thing before I even have the chance to assert myself."

"Here's a thought," Sarah suggested, "Have you allocated you're strife specibus?"

"Allocated?" I asked, twisting my face into one of confusion.

"Oh. My. GOD." Olivia frustratingly answered. "You haven't even allocated your strife specibus yet? What a noob! No wonder you can't go against your father, you have no weapon!"

"Weapon? Strife Specibus?" I quizzically looked at my friends, whose faces showed that of immediate disbelief.

"You need to allocate it _tonight,_ bro," Andrew sighed, placing a hand on his forehead to express his stress. "You'll never get through life without allocating it with a weapon."

"Oh, uh, all right," I shrugged, looking off to one side to hide my embarrassment.

"Well, that aside," Sarah continued, "You shouldn't call him right now. It will do him some good to loosen the reigns around his son a bit. Here, I'll send him a message to kindly back off."

Sarah reached into her pocket to presumably retrieve her phone, but instead, pulled out an Xbox 360.

"Crap," She hissed under her breath.

"Ha ha ha!" Olivia laughed. "You're modus acting strange again?"

"Yeah," Sarah admitted. "My Pocket Modus can be a bit trippy sometimes. I can retrieve items, but I can't see the item until I pull the cards out of my pocket."

"Ha ha! You should switch to the Kawaii~Desu Modus like me," Olivia suggested. "It's great for learning Japanese."

"Mm-hm," Sarah nodded, relieving interest from the conversation.

After about three failed tries, Sarah managed to pull out her phone from her sylladex.

"Alright, his number please?"

Receiving the number from me, she tapped a few buttons on the screen, and slid the phone back into her pocket, and ultimately, her sylladex.

"Alright, he should back off now," She winked.

Then my phone started vibrating.

"Oh god, I just told him to back off!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Easy," I calmed. "It's my pesterchum app. Kelly's calling."

"Oh?"

"Yeas, be just a minute, guys!

_(hazardousPediatrician began pestering aestheticNinja at 1:23 PM)_

HP: hi connor!

HP: whats up?

AN: Hey Kelly.

AN: I'm chilling out at the library right now with Sarah and company.

AN: We were researching that dream stuff I've been telling you about.

HP: oo! Is this the stuff about the golden city?

AN: Yes.

HP: omg Awesome!

HP: Did you guys find anything out?

AN: Nope.

AN: Unfortunately, we hit a dead end.

AN: And Maddy is being overly coy about the whole topic, so We're a bit reluctant to ask her.

_(wackyTyrannosaur began pestering aestheticNinja at 1:24 PM)_

WT: I am most certainly not!

WT: there are just some things i dont want to tell you at the moment

WT: Especially that zombie freak!

WT: ooooh, him.

WT: but mostly, im also keeping it from YOU, connor

WT: because I dont want you ruining my plans

WT: but dont fret

WT: everything will make sense soon enough.

WT: ta ta!

_(wackyTyrannosaur ceased pestering aestheticNinja at 1:24 PM)_

AN: …

HP: …

AN: What

HP: the

AN: Fuck!

AN: That was WAY too weird.

HP: Think she's tapping into that cloud resource she keeps bragging about?

AN: Yes.

AN: I've seen those clouds though.

HP: oh?

AN: They're a bit…disturbing.

AN: I've never bothered to actually go see them.

HP: oh?

AN: Yeah.

AN: They happen during a weird solar eclipse thing that happens every once and a while.

AN: Though I tend to go inside and not pay attention to them.

AN: Even though Maddy claims they tell the future.  
HP: you see them every night when you dream, right?

AN: Well, yeah.

AN: I always dream on "Prospit."

AN: Every night since last April.

AN: I want to say that the day it started was around the 13th?

AN: I'm not quite sure, however…

HP: Well, tonight, when you're dreaming, you should totally go and see the clouds!

HP: who knows? They might give you some info on yoor predicament

AN: Well, all right.

AN: Still kind of against it though.

HP: Man up connor!

HP: Take action!

AN: Bluh. Fine.

AN: I'll go see the clouds tonight if I can.

HP: Good.

AN: Oh, hey, I was wondering.

AN: Have you seen Kim?

AN: She left suddenly while we were talking last night, and she hasn't answered back.

HP: Haven't seen her all day.

HP: Why not ask Laura?

AN: She lives in Birmingham, and I doubt Kim is there.

AN: Also, she told me that she was super busy today.

HP: Oh man.

AN: I also tried Yvonne and Sam, but she won't pick up.

AN: I wonder what those two are up to…

HP: Idk beats me, man.

HP: The only other person I can think of is Kaitlyn.

AN: AUUGHH! NO!  
AN: There is no way in HELL I am asking HER for help.

AN: She's a huge bitch!

HP: Watch the language there, hon.

AN: Sorry.

AN: I just really don't like her.

HP: Well, you got any other options?

AN: No, I'm blank.

AN: Hey, I got to go.

AN: Friends are bugging me.

HP: Welp, see you later then.

AN: Yeah.

_(aestheticNinja ceased pestering hazardousPediatrician at 1:27 PM)_

"What was that all about?" Sarah inquired once I snapped my pesterchum application shut with a few flicks of my finger.

"Oh, she was just wondering what we were up to."

"Oh yeah, the poor thing is grounded, right?"

"I'm afraid so."

I sighed as I sat down once more into my chair.

"I should probably pester Cody and Mia about the situation."

"What's wrong?" Alyx piped in.

"It's about Kim," I explained. "You see, we were both talking last night, and she suddenly found this weird download to a game of some sort. She got all excited and told me she'd call back later, but she didn't. Now I'm a little worried."

"About her?" Olivia asked.

"About _me._ From what I know, Kim is probably in cahoots with Yvonne and Sam, trying to take some sort of prank out to town with me. I'm a little afraid, to be honest."

"Yeah," Andrew nodded.

"Hopefully Sophie isn't in with it too," Sarah thought. "But if it's going to be that good, I'm not going to be the one to stop them."

"Thanks, guys." I spat. "I'm glad I have such good friends."

"You're quite welcome, Connor!"

"I was being sarcastic."

"Oh."

The rest of the day was spent in what I can describe in the simplest of terms, a state of chilling out. We were all in a suspended feeling of camaraderie as we continued our daily shenanigans. We were all went to the mall, a walk in the woods, and went to see the latest horror film that came out (it wasn't that good, however). Before I knew it, I had spent well around seven hours with my friends. The sun was setting, and fireflies were beginning to pop out here and there in the dark shadows of swamps. The frogs in the area croaked loudly in the humid air.

"Guys, it's, like, almost eight at night now," I bluntly told them as we returned to the Library, now closed.

"So?" Alyx shrugged.

"My dad is probably wanting me at home by now," I reasoned. "I'd better go. I need to face his wrath."

"You're dad isn't going to face you with anything other then a good old fashioned welcome home," Andrew sighed.

"You'll be fine." Sarah said. "Just make sure that you tell him that you were having fun. You're dad seems to enjoy the fact that you're having a social life."

"Of course," I agreed. "But it's still pretty late, so I'll see you all later."

"Yeah, see ya!" Olivia waved. "We're all going to hang out tomorrow though, right? I mean, it is your birthday!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. Of course, tomorrow was my birthday. How could I keep forgetting? Not just any birthday, oh no. My eighteenth birthday, the day I officially become an adult.

Unfortunately, majority law in Alabama is actually nineteen, which means that he couldn't move out of the house for another year without parental consent, which, to be honest, seems highly unlikely, but in almost any other state, I was a free man, a full man.

I thought about it for a second. True, my father was a douche bag, and the craziest maniac I had ever met, but he respected me. Perhaps he might listen to me on giving me more privileges as a grown man and an equal of the household.

"Yeah," I nodded. "See ya!"

I summoned the keys from my sylladex with a rather heartwarming story and opened the doors to the car. Revving the engine up, I pulled out of the parking lot to wave good-bye to my friends. I mean, that's what your supposed to do, right?

The drive home was silent, but much less chaotic then the midday lunch rush. The lights on the overview head of the car led me home without a single misguided step.

The house had the lights on, like it always did. I turned the car off and stepped out into the sticky summer air. The frog noises had become much more distant, but the fireflies much more prolific then down in the town by the library. I squinted across the backyard and into the pitch black forest, but I saw nothing.

Then, I saw a flash of white and green lightning.

"Oh shit!" I cursed, backing away from the view of the slendermanesque figure. Bursting across the lawn and through the unlocked front door, I sighed relief when I locked the door, sliding down as my back leaned against it.

Then there was pain and darkness.

When I woke, the house was dark, save for the bright kitchen light. When I entered, I quickly shielded my eyes from the radical change in light. I turned slowly to face the oven clock, which surprisingly read five to eleven. I had been knocked out for almost three hours! Who could have done such a terrible crime! Why?!

Then, the answer to my who and why were found.

"Gee, thanks dad," I whispered under my breath, making sure that it was just loud enough for him to hear as he typed away on his laptop about some sort of journalist stuff.

When I was little, I thought my dad was part of a motorcycle gang because of the large amount of motorcycles he owns that were stacked up in a garage. When I found out he was merely a writer for the local newspaper at the ripe age of thirteen, I nearly had a mental breakdown. Like I said, my father is insane. There was _no way _he could have such a normal job.

But, low and behold, here he was, doing important, bland fatherly business stuffs, typing away at the computer as he took a swig of now frozen cold coffee.

"Look, I know you hit me with your dictionary again," I began, leaning against the wall in a laid back, accusatory manner.

My father stopped typing, but didn't bother to look up from his screen.

"I know, "words are the weapons of the literary war" or something like that," I began, "But it's getting to become blatant child abuse. You need to stop doing that."

My father slowly looked up from his laptop, gave me a good, long hard stare, and returned to his typing. I sighed.

"Fine. I'm going to my room. Talk to me when you're ready."

No response. My father never really was the talkative type. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time he uttered a single word out loud. It was infuriating. Especially when I was trying to discipline him for his ludicrous actions and behaviors of the proper use of a dictionary.

And here I was, back in my room again, dark from the lack of light. I flipped the switch on and jumped into my bed, soaking in the pleasures of it's soft, fluffy coolness warm to the touch of my cheek.

I turned onto my back and stared at the ceiling. What was all of this? These weird dreams I've been having, Maddy sharing them, Kim disappearing mysteriously, it all just seemed too…suspicious to be coincidental.

I recalled Kelly's urging to visit the clouds that Prospit often collided with, what did Maddy call it? The Clouds of Skypeia or something? I couldn't remember. Anyways, I might have just as well taken Kelly up on the offer.

I turned onto my side and began to doze off into sleep, not really caring for whatever clothes I was wearing at the time.

Then, my phone buzzed.

It was my pesterchum account.

"Who could be pestering me at this time of night?" I grumbled as I struggled to retrieve my phone from my sylladex, completing the story sloppily as grabbed the phone.

I was pleased, as well as surprised by who had pestered.

_(acrylicSkyline began pestering aestheticNinja at 11:07 PM)_

AS: Hey, Connor!

AN: Kim?!


	5. P--Kim's Dramatic Entrance

I couldn't believe it.

She decides to hide around all day, doing some coy prank panning, and now here she is, ready to make me the laughing stock of whoever has the honor of witnessing my demise. She was almost as bad as Damn Neighbor sometimes.

AS: Hey, Connor!

AN: What do you mean 'Hey"

AN: Where have you been?!

AN: You just decide you can disappear on us for a day without any reasonable explanation?!

AS: What do you think I was doing?

AS: I was working and trolling the Internet.

AS: You know, like I do in MOST of my free time?

AN: Ugh….

AN: What did you find THIS time?

AN: A two million-word fan fiction about the history of hyrule?

AN: The greatest post tumblr has ever seen?

AS: Yes, in fact.

AN: B\

AS: But no, seriously,

AS: I actually found a game that I want to play with you all.

AN: MM-hm.

AN: And what, may I daresay, does this game do?

AN: Does it destroy my hp?

AN: Might it perhaps create some sort of time paradox that destroys my avatar?

AN: Does it contain ANY destruction whatsoever?

AS: Correct on all points.

AN: …

AN: Oh…my…god…

AS: What, do you not trust me on this?

AS: I should be hurt!

AN: as a matter of fact, I really don't trust you that much.

AN: Remember LAST time we played a game together?

AN: You practically obliterated my laptop with your game shenanigans.

AS: And that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gotten in my way.

AS: So clearly, your misfortune is all by your doing.

AN: Ugh. Whatever.

AN: Just tell me about this stupid game already.

AS: It's hardly stupid.

AN: Uh huh.

AS: But it's based off a web comic called Homestuck that I've been urging you to read for a while now.

AS: It ended a while ago, and the author, Hussie, put up a download to this game that I was thinking we were all going to play.

AS: Heres the link: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Bluuuuhhhhggg…

AS: Problems?

AN: No.

AN: I'll go check it out.

AN: (Reluctantly)

I sighed angrily as I rose from my position on my bed and accessed my sylladex. My computer came out with a plop after writing some twisted science fiction story. I clicked on the Internet icon and began to re-type the rather strange url into the internet.

I used to use Safari, which was a common browser to use for Mac, but then Maddy suggested I switch to Echidna, the browser she uses. I've got to say, I'm pleased with the thing. It runs faster and more efficient then any browser I've seen. I have yet to thank Maddy for helping me find such a wonderful treasure, perhaps I should do that later.

The screen instantly went dark as the website began to load. A green house with eight windows appeared upon the browser screen. All eight of them were dancing, as if they were preparing for something big. In the end, bright, green letters manifested themselves onto the center of the inky layout of the website.

"Sburb?" I mouthed out loud.

I scrolled down into a small ocean of words, and began reading.

**Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime? Then jump in and immerse yourself within the game of Sburb! Build your house, collect grist, defeat imps, and shape your destiny! Fantastic prizes await you, as well as deadly consequences! Play with all of your friends! Will you lead your session to success and reap the ultimate reward, or will you fall into the depths of despair and failure. The choices are up to you in Sburb!**

**Download available in 8:46:17 seconds.**

I stared into the countdown with a face of befuddlement. What was this? Sburb? Fantastic Prizes? The ultimate reward? To be honest, it sounded amazingly fun and exciting, but at the same time, cheesy and unimportant. I wasn't about to admit this fact to my snarky friend, however.

AN: What the hell is this?

AS: It's a game.

AS: like I just told you?

AN: No I meant the title.

AN: What is it about?

AS: Sigh.

AS: You haven't read the comic, have you?

AN: The Home Stuck thing?

AN: No, I thought I told you.

AN: I don't have time for that.

AS: Then make time!

AS: Or at least check the wiki.

AS: It'll explain it!

AS: And if you'll notice the countdown, we don't have much time until it begins.

AN: I really don't.

AN: The fandom's gotten a lot of negative stigma.

AS: Sigh.

AS: Internet rule 1: Don't judge a comic by its fandom.

AS: I mean, just look at the Hetalia fandom.

AN: …oh…my…god!

AN: You HAD to make me think of that!

AN: Way to go, Kim!

AN: Way to go.

AS: You're welcome!

AS: I try.

AN: AUUUGGHGGHHH!

AN: You aren't getting it!

AS: And what exactly am I not getting?

AN: Oh I don't know.

AN: The subtlety, the rush

AN: oh, wait.

AN: IT'S THE COMPLETE DISREGUARD TO THE FACT THAT I HAVE NO FUCKING TIME!

AS: Jegus! No reason to get so angry about it!

AS: I mean, I was trying to help you!

AS: But if you don't want my help

AS: That's TOTALLY fine by me!

AS: I'm sure you'll be regretting this conversation later!

AN: I'm already regretting THIS one!

AN: I really am not in the mood to talk to you right now!

AS: Then why do you continue to reply?

AN: TO ENGRAIN THIS FACT INTO YOUR FUCKING MIND!

AN: I

AN: HAVE

AN: NO

AN: REASON

AN: TO

AN: READ

AN: YOUR

AN: STUPID

AN: FUCKING

AN: COOOMMMIIIIICCC!1! !

AS: Rude!

AS: And you consider yourself a gentleman!

AN: I consider this conversation OVER!

AN: GOOD BYE!

_(aestheticNinja ceased pestering acrylicSkyline)_

_(aestheticNinja blocked acrylicSkyline)_

AS: Jegus.

AS: Someone's being a pissy little girl.

_(acylicSkyline ceased pestering aestheticNinja)_

I threw my phone onto my desk along with my computer, which still housed the website opened. I then proceeded to throw my head into the pillow and scream for about ten minutes.

I was done. I was tired. I needed some rest.

And before I knew it, my white-hot anger melted into a lukewarm slumber…

_I woke with a start._

_"Oh great," I mumbled, looking around a golden replica of my room. "I'm here again."_

_I stumbled out of the bed and continued through the strange duplicate of my sleeping quarters. Everything was similar for the most part. The bed was in the corner, beside a window, a desk piled high with papers, and a lone drawing desk and jam packed bookshelf in the corner. There were some slight inconsistencies, however._

_For one, the walls were not an ugly tan shape. They were a bright, shiny golden. Actually, everything was golden. Instead of wearing whatever clothes I wore to bed, they were replaced with some rather fancy looking pajamas, dyed the same shade of golden as the room surrounding me._

_The window by my bed was also wide open._

_I peeked out the window and got a dizzying view of the golden city below me. The moon was quite far away from the main planet, small enough to be about the size of my thumb if held at a distance. Across at a horizontal distance were four other towers, identical to the one I occupied. I went to see them once, but it was rather disturbing what I saw in there._

_This time was different from the other times I had woken up here. Usually when I woke up here and started flying around without questioning it's possibility, the streets of both the main planet and the moon were filled with white, friendly humanoid beings with a hard carapace shell. In the few times I ventured outside my room, I got along quite well with them._

_However, the streets were impossibly silent now._

_And I knew why._

_I tilted my head upwards to see the giant looming body that the whole kingdom orbited around. It was sky blue, and had swirling clouds upon it's surface. The moon did this every once and a while. It would dive into the sphere of clouds and pop back put again right after._

_It was an eclipse._

_Usually when this happened, I moved away from my window because of the strange things the clouds would sometimes do. However, I quickly remembered the words Kelly told me, and forced myself to look into the clouds._

_And before I knew it, the moon had fallen head first into the swirling confusion of the clouds._

_I saw so many whirling colors it wasn't funny. Before long, the clouds began to take shapes, then sizes, and before long, it wasn't the clouds that were making the shapes at all, they had become like some sort of weird television screen. The first one was a bit strange, it showed Andrew running back and forth between his house and Alyx's house like madmen, and it was all shaking for some reason._

_The next was bland. It was us. We were all at the library, chilling out and having fun, just as we were earlier today. I groaned as I recalled Maddy telling me that these clouds predicted the future. What a joke._

_The next was strange, it was Sarah, but she wasn't wearing her usual apparel. Instead of a trademark wolf sweatshirt or a tee, she wore a strange bright yellow, pajamaesque outfit. It was a duller hue then the pajamas I currently wore. It was adorned with a hood and bound leggings. She looked like someone from some epic fantasy themed RPG was crossed with a sleepy child in pullover nighttime clothes. On her chest, where her wolf design would have rested, a bright symbol of fluttering wings replaced them. She looked determined, surrounded by darkness. In the background, three floating individuals rested. One was me and another was Alyx, With the exception of me, in which I wore some sort of armored outfit, we all wore the purple themed pajamas similar to the ones I was wearing now. We all looked astonished at Sarah, who then began emitting a bright aura as a strange boy hurtled towards our group._

_I couldn't identify the boy who was heading towards our group, but he looked eerily familiar for some reason. His eyes and hair were midnight dark, and his skin an unsettling hue of dark gray. He wore purple pajamas, adorned with a hood and a cape and a strange bottom that resembled underwear. The two outfits that Sarah and this boy were wearing looked to be made by the same person, as they were similar in motif and design. The symbol on his shirt was a swirling pattern that reminded me too much of an angry face._

_He was zooming towards Sarah, who looked ready to attack with the aura she had manifested around her._

_The fourth vision was even more otherworldly. I saw Kim, but her normally groomed brown hair was messy and her face scrunched into anger. She was furious, spitting venomous words into the air, however I was unable to discern such vulgar shouting as she stared off towards an unknown opponent. In the background, I saw Maddy, flipping her red dyed hair to view the situation with horror as rain began to fall on the arena. Maddy wore dark black pajamas with a swirling symbol upon it, similar to that of Sarah's and the black haired boy, and that contrasted greatly from Kim's feathery dress. The symbol was hypnotic. Boy, what I would do to have a shirt like that. Still, I wonder what was going on between the two there…_

_The fifth vision was even more far fetched. It showed me four kids I had never seen before. One was the purpled pajama freak about to attack Sarah in my second vision, while the other two, which I thought to have been a girl and a boy respectively, had grey skin and horns that resembled candy corn. The last member of the group was on the floor before them, lying dead. She was a young girl about my age. She had golden blonde hair that fell silently as she wore a bright golden nightgown similar to mine. The purple guy fell to his knees and began to try and shake the poor girl awake, despite the futile effort it would do._

_The sixth vision was of Olivia, riding a giant man into the mountains of some unknown region. I had no idea what she was doing, nor the identity of the giant. I couldn't make heads nor tails on what was being displayed by the clouds here._

_The seventh vision I saw was rather alarming. I saw blood, and then a hand. The hand remarkably looked like mine, but when the cloud showed me more, I realized it was mine. I saw myself. I was dead. I was wearing some sort of clothing that looked like a school robe from Harry Potter, but slightly more fashionable. It was stained red with my blood, and my face sporting a rather large bruise and a strange scar on my right cheek. Before I could lean closer into the cloud as it told of my demise, it floated away, leaving me with only disturbed thoughts on how I would die._

_But then the eighth, and final cloud showed me the last vision, and it was twenty times more horrific._

_I saw all my friends, dead. Every last one of them meeting some sort of terrible fate. Sarah, Alyx, Andrew, all of them. Eventually, the final death seen was that of..._

_"No," I shook my head, backing away off my bed and into the room as the cloud forebodingly told the demise of it's final character._

_"No…" I shook my head, repeating the word once more._

_It was my father._

_He was dead._

_"No!" I shouted as I threw myself back onto the bed, covering myself in a multitude of blankets. "It's not true! It's not true!" I shouted over an over again as I fell into a slumber once more._

_"My dad…He's…dead…?"_

**END OF PROLOGUE**


	6. I--And So It Begins

**BEGIN ACT I:**

**TRAPPED BY THE WHIMS OF A PSYCHOTIC MADMAN**

A young man sleeps in his bed. Although the sun is reasonably high in the sky, the young man is still asleep. It just so happens that today, July 13th, 2013, is this young man's birthday. However, we do not know his age. Perhaps we can ask him…that is, if we can guess this fellow's name.

**====ENTER NAME**

PSYCHOTIC RAGEASS

I don't think so.

**====TRY AGAIN**

CONNOR SAWYER

That's better.

My name is CONNOR, and to answer the question asked by enigmatic forces, today is my EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY. I have a variety of INTERESTS. I simply ADORE the JAPANESE MANGA AND ANIMES that clod my BOOKSHELF and the favorites bar of my COMPUTER. My passion for the FOREIGN ENTERTAINMENT has led myself to become an avid FAN FICTION WRITER and ASPIRING MANGA ARTIST, despite the fact that their is NO FUTURE in the modern world for my kind. I enjoy WILD FLIGHTS OF FANTASY and often ROLE PLAY a plethora of genre types, but most of them stick to my usual bouts of HIGH FANTASY. I enjoy playing VIDEO GAMES and the amazing qualities of COSPLAY, though I am not very good at them.

I was woken with a start today. The visions, especially the last ones I saw; they were mortifying. I couldn't believe that something like that was going to happen to my friends and my father! He might be a douche bag, but-

_No._ I told myself as I shook my head. _It's not going to happen. It's not true. Maddy was lying when she said those clouds told the future. They aren't always right. They're only right about 99% of the time._

But as I comforted myself about the situation over and over again as I left my bed, I couldn't help but feel I was only reassuring myself that the inevitable was not going to happen.

I looked onto the desk at my phone. It was blinking, probably with the blocked messages of Kim. No way was I talking to _her _anytime soon. She got what she deserved. I'm not usually so cruel as to ignore my friends, but I am a firm believer in spare the rod, spoil the child. Kim will just have to learn her lesson.

Still, I felt the need to talk to someone. The visions I had were so unsettling, I couldn't help but whimper an audible sound of fear at the results. But whom should I pester?

Everyone I knew was either busy or too far away to call. Kelly was grounded. Andrew was bound to be asleep at this hour, so he was a definite no go. Sarah was probably eating breakfast right now, and Olivia draws every morning until eleven. The only person I could think of at the moment was Alyx.

_(aestheticNinja began pestering pertetualMechanism at 10:46 AM)_

AN: Hey, uh, Alyx?

AN: Are you there?

AN: I…just need someone to talk to I guess…

PM: Yeah, I'm here.

PM: Wassup, birthday boy?

AN: I just feel really confused about all this stuff.

AN: I mean, the dream stuff got really weird last night.

PM: Really? How?

PM: Tell me.

AN: Well, Kelly recommended that I go see the clouds last night.

AN: You know, the ones Maddy always talks about?

AN: But I saw…really weird visions and stuff.

PM: Oh my,

PM: As in, future stuffs?

AN: Future stuffs.

AN: There was this weird purple guy that kept reappearing.

AN: Idk who he is, but he reminds me of someone.

AN: Someone I know…

PM: Weird.

PM: Was I in any of the visions?

AN: A few.

AN: One, you're with me wearing purple pajamas

AN: And another, you're-

AN: Oh.

AN: Oh god…

PM: What?

PM: What's going on?

AN: Alright, don't freak out when I say this, but…

AN: I saw you dead.

PM: Me? Dead?!

AN: Yes!

AN: And it wasn't just you!

AN: It was everyone!

AN: Sarah, Andrew..

AN: All of us!

AN: And worst of all,

AN: My dad was dead too!

AN: What does this mean?!

PM: Hmm…

PM: Well, remember how Sarah said that dreams like this are usually frightening so that they can stick out to us?

AN: yeah…

AN: But, I still don't get it too well…

AN: It all feels so real…

AN: I'm terrified.

AN: I really am.

PM: Well, just because it's predicting the future doesn't mean that it IS the future.

PM: I wouldn't worry too much about it.

PM: I believe that the future isn't set in stone, even if we are told it.

PM: In the end, our choices ultimately depict the path that we will take.

PM: Just because someone says it's gonna happen doesn't mean that it's gonna happen.

PM: And if it's true, heck

PM: I have faith that you'll do the right thing when the right choices are presented.

PM: And me vice versa.

AN: …you're absolutely right, Alyx.

AN: Thanks for that. I was just getting really freaked out there.

PM: Hey, no problem.

AN: All right.

PM: Hey, Kim pestered me earlier this morning.

PM: She was trying to talk to you about this game you were supposed to be playing?

AN: Oh god.

AN: Not about her.

PM: Why?

AN: She was pestering me last night about some stupid game.

AN: It got really bad, and I just banned her in the end.

PM: Well, she talked me into playing the game.

AN: You're playing this Sburb game with her?

PM: Nah, not with her.

PM: I was actually planning on playing it with you.

AN: Really?

PM: Yeah, you're pretty fun to play with.

PM: But Kim said that I absolutely HAD to play with Sarah as her "server player" or something.

PM: But, hey, she's fun to play with too, so I'm not complaining.

AN: Server player?

PM: You should talk to Kim, she'll give you the basics.

PM: That way we can all play together!

PM: Although you're going to have to start talking to Kim again on that.

AN: Ugh.

AN: Okay.

PM: Also, have you downloaded the game onto your computer yet?

AN: No.

AN: I have the website open on my browser, however.

PM: Okay.

PM: Haven't downloaded it either, but I plan on doing it ASAP after taking care of my dogs.

AN: Sounds good.

PM: Okay, ttyl

_(perpetualMechanism ceased pestering aestheticNinja at 10:49 AM)_

I sighed loudly as I fell back into my bed. Kim had gotten Alyx to play this game with her, so the game couldn't be all that bad. Alyx loved video games, and if I was playing with her, what was the worst that could happen.

I tried not to curse myself as I began to pester Kim.

_(aestheticNinja began pestering acrylicSkyline at 10:51 AM)_

AN: Ugggh.. I can't believe I'm doing this…

AN: Hey, Kim.

AN: What was that about this game we're playing?

AS: Oh?

AS: So NOW you're interested in playing?

AS: I thought you didn't want to play.

AN: I never said that.

AN: I just said I didn't want to read your comic.

AS: But to do one, you must do the other.

AS: Or, at least read enough to understand the basic concepts.

AN: Wouldn't it just be easier for you to tell me?

AS: Are you going to force me to explain it filtered with insults towards yourself while there is a perfectly viable source on the internet that lacks any hurt feelings?

AN: To be honest, yes.

AN: I'm not to eager to read the comic, and wiki's are not really the most reliable of sources.

AS: Oh, so NOW you trust me?

AN: I trust you as a friend.

AS: I'm flattered.

AN: NOT as a person, however.

AN: *narrows eyes suspiciously

AS: Well, I guess that just shows your lack of good judgement.

AN: Yeah, yeah, spare me the petty details.

AN: You wanna play this game or not?

AS: Yes, it would be a shame to see you obliterated with the rest of our planet.

AN: Wait, what?

AS: Unimportant for the moment.

AS: First things first, Sburb, in it's most basic description, Sburb is an andventure game that ends with us creating a new world.

AN: Uh, what?!

AS: Each player receives their own personal land and title that represents their purpose and role within their session.

AS: However, first, you must enter the game.

AS: There are two versions of the game.

AS: The client and the server.

AS: The server assists the client player by equipping them with technology that will help them in their personal adventures.

AS: Each player must be both a client and a server in order to create a chain.

AS: The order of the chain does not matter.

AN: Uhh…okay…

AN: I THINK I get it?

AS: Congratulations!

_(acrylicSkyline awarded aestheticNinja a gold star)_

AS: Of course there is much more to the game then what I have told you.

AS: But the information I have provided to you should be sufficient for now.

AS: Though I do recommend you read more into the subject on the wiki.

AN: Fine, I'll do it after I download the game.

AS: Finally!

AN: Yes, I agree.

I nodded with a strict movement despite the fact Kim couldn't see my face. Reaching for my computer with the intent to download the game, I smiled as I thought of fun things to do in the game. Fantastic prizes? The ultimate reward? At first, I was hesitant to download such a game onto my computer, but now, I was more than eager to play it with all my friends.

Then there was a flash of light. Damn Neighbor was in my room.

"Oh, god fucking dammit," I hissed.

Damn Neighbor snatched the computer from it's position on the desk and disappeared into green electricity.

"Fuck you! Damn Neighbor!" I screamed after him, cussing my swear word alphabet before returning to Kim in my infuriating mood.

AN: GOD DAMMITTT!

AS: Excuse me?

AN: AAUGUGGH!

AN: Damn Neighbor just stole my computer!

AN: He's up to his old antics again!

AN: I am REALLY getting tired of it!

AS: Well, complaining now will do you no good.

AS: You've already wasted enough time as it is.

AS: Just go get it back and download that game!

AN: All right.

AN: Talk to you later, Kim.

AS: All right, later!

_(aesthticNinja ceased pestering acrylicSkyline at 10:55 AM)_

I sat up from my bed and began thinking. If I were Damn Neighbor, where would I hide my laptop? As I pondered the situation, I shuffled over to the window to sneak a peek at the frog ruins.

Today, they were unusually strange. Before, the ruins had only whispered enigmas and obscurity. Now today, on my birthday, they screamed, loud enough for the entire world to hear. Unfortunately for it, the only ones who would bother would be my friends and I.

The ruins got me thinking. If this game was as important as Kim said it was, she would want me to download it immediately, so I had to find it fast.

But where to begin? Obviously, it was not in my room, so I concluded that it was required to venture out into the house, and possibly beyond, to retrieve my lost macbook. I captchalogued my phone and exited into the hallway.

The hallway was dark despite the late time of the morning. It was quiet. Nothing stirred if it didn't need to, all except for my very being, which shook as I navigated the long hallway.

My sister's room soon came into view. My sister was basically the offspring of Satan. Her antics were far more malicious then that of Kim or Damn Neighbor, and her intent was to kill rather then to torture. I always stood clear of my sister, especially when she was sleeping. If anyone woke her up, blood would literally be spilt as she unleashed her undying wrath upon any poor unfortunate soul that dared entered her presence.

Tiptoeing past it with ease, I finally reached the stairs. Then, it came into view. A large sword displayed proudly over the wall. My father had once gotten it to "pretty up the house" and make it seem more heartwarming, when in actuality, we all thought it was just a simple coping element he used whenever my mother left on her many business trips. My father purchased the sword to display over the fireplace in our living room, but the space above the hearth was too small to contain such a large item, so we mounted it on the wall by the stairs instead. We often feel sorry for him sometimes.

I suddenly recalled Andrew's suggestion to allocate my strife specibus with some sort of weapon to face my dad. The sword was definitely a nifty choice. A rather overused, yet noble weapon in my point of view. I have taken the sword from it's mounted position before when I was fifteen in order to, ahem, "practice" some moves, but my father heavily scolded me and positioned it back upon the wall. Now that I knew about this strife specibus, I could probably face my father with ease against his dictionarykind.

Then, I unfortunately remembered that I didn't know how to allocate my strife specibus.

"Crap," I muttered out loud. Andrew was still asleep, so I was going to have to pester him later about how to allocate a weapon to a strife specibus. I thought over the possibilities of equipping such a destructive weapon though. Sarah told me that enough experience within strifes used with strife specibi rise you up through something called the echeladder, which sounds pretty damn powerful. I chuckled as I thought of me rising through the runks until I reached the very top.

But, we've all got to start somewhere, so I captchalogued the sword and continued along my trek to find my lost computer.

When I reached the hallway, the rank smell of hockey gear punched my nose. I held my fingers to my nostrils to try and stifle the horrible scent of unwashed sports gear, but to no avail. I gagged as I continued through the front hallway at the base of the stairs, until I finally reached the front door.

The front door to my house was quite intricate. There was black iron lacing along the insides of the decorative double doors, outlining the rather pristine surface of the glass that helped anyone peer out into the front yard. From beyond the front patio, I saw a small garden with a large maple tree in the middle before the lawn ended at a rather crude sidewalk and the beginnings of the road. By the driveway to my left, I saw the mailbox, with its entire postal splendors.

And then I saw it.

"My laptop!" I exclaimed with joy as I caught a glimpse of the silver flash of my macbook. It was there all right. Closed and leaning right against the mailbox neatly. The apple symbol glowed lazily in the sunlight.

My excitement was short lived, however, when I reached for the door handle and turned the knob.

The door was shut tight. Upon further inspection, I had found out that the door had been locked.

_From the outside._

I began to panic when I saw a small pot it note upon the door just within my reach. As I opened it, my heart began to fill with dread.

_Son,_

_If you are reading this, It probably means that you have attempted to open this door. I am afraid that I have taken my fatherly authority to place restricted confinement upon your schedule from now on. In other words, you are grounded._

_On the other hand, the reason for your grounding is due to fact of the vulgar comment you sent me yesterday, which I highly disagree with. In the steps to becoming a man, you are well on your way to asserting yourself as a fine-tuned, well adjusted member of society._

_I am so proud of you, son._

_-Dad_

"DAMMIT!" I screamed loudly.

====CONNOR: PESTER SARAH


	7. I--Of Timelines and Strife

_(aestheticNinja began pestering petitePsychiatrist at 11:06 AM)_

AN: Sarah! Sarah!

AN: Look, I know that you're probably eating right now

AN: But this is important!

PP: Hey, no worries, I'm here.

PP: Breakfast just ended.

PP: Talk about ideal timing,

AN: Thank god.

AN: I need you're help.

PP: What happened?

AN: Well, my dad locked me inside the house.

PP: Lol!

PP: Why?

AN: He says in a note it was because of some sort of…

PP: uh…

AN: …text…

PP: …um…

PP: …Connor?

AN: …

PP: Uh oh…

AN: Sarah?

AN: That text you happened to send yesterday…

AN: Just a stroke of curiosity

AN: Nothing too serious, really.

AN: But,

AN: What sort of message did you send to my father?

PP: Um….

PP: It's kinda…profane…

AN: Uh huh…

AN: Interesting…

PP: Uh, ha ha…

PP: Connor?

AN: You…

AN: Texted him to basically fuck off…

AN: …

AN: …

AN: …

AN: What have you done?

AN: WHAT

AN: HAVE

AN: YOU

_(doomed aestheticNinja 10:43 hours from now began pestering current alpha aestheticNinja at 11:09 AM)_

FAN: Whew!

FAN: Looks like I made it just in time!

CAN: FUCKING

CAN: Wait…

CAN: WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY PESTERCHUM HANDLE?

CAN: WHERE'D THIS EXTRA C COME FROM?!

CPP: Lol.

CPP: I've got it too!

FAN: Calm down, guys, and listen to me.

FAN: Especially you, Connor.

FAN: I know how angry you can get, so I picked you out.

FAN: You know, 'cause I'm kinda you.

FAN: But from an alternate future.

CPP: Wait, what?

CPP: Is this some sort of elaborate prank?

CAN: I'm with you here, Sarah.

CAN: Who the hell are you?

FAN: I just said it.

FAN: I'm you, from the future.

FAN: Well, an alternate future.

FAN: One where you're dead, Sarah.

CPP: What?!

FAN: Probably shouldn't have said that.

FAN: Anyways, I'm here to avert some upcoming crises that will slide us all into a doomed timeline.

FAN: I don't have long, Cody's time powers don't last forever.

CAN: …time powers?

FAN: Yeah.

FAN: Cody's the Page of Time.

CPP: …Page of Time?

FAN: He has the power to provide timey powers to others.

FAN: He can provide it for himself too, but his real strength is providing it to others.

FAN: Normally, people from doomed timelines cannot converse with the people in the alpha timeline through persterlog means.

FAN: But Cody here's helping me with that little dilemma.

FAN: Man, it's too bad the alpha Delta Session won't have a time player.

FAN: Unlike our doomed Zeta Session.

CAN: What are you talking about?

FAN: Oh, sorry.

FAN: Guess I was rambling there.

FAN: Anyways, long story short.

FAN: Don't get angry at Sarah, Connor!

FAN: If you do, she'll get angry and block you, and that will be her demise!

CPP: Huh…

CPP: This is interesting…

CPP: You're from the future, right, Future Connor?

FAN: Yes.

FAN: Well, an alternate future.

CAN: Oh no…

CPP: Hush, Current Connor.

CPP: And this alternate universe.

CPP: You title it as a "Doomed Timeline."

CPP: And you're from what you claim to be a 'doomed timeline'?

FAN: Yes!

FAN: Thank you for understanding, Sarah!

CPP: …Okay, I think I get it.

CPP: Can you please explain my demise?

FAN: Okay, well, you're supposed to be Connor's server player.

FAN: But that doesn't happen, because you refuse to pester him and block him.

FAN: I, well, I mean, Connor was fortunately saved by Sophie so that he could enter the game.

CPP: Sophie?

CPP: My sister?

FAN: But Sophie let me, I mean, Connor into the Zeta Session instead of the Delta Session.

FAN: Since Connor was supposed to enter the Delta session first, the Delta Session ceased to exist on our timeline, and everyone that would be in the Delta Session didn't make it.

FAN: We tried to trudge on, but we cannot proceed within our doomed timeline.

FAN: So Cody and I teamed up to try and save it by going back and changing the course of time!

CPP: Hmm…

CPP: I believe you.

CAN: What?!

CAN: Sarah, you believe this nutjob?

CPP: Connor, the nutjob is YOU

FAN: MM-hm.

CAN: What?

FAN: I'm really glad you were here to witness my attempt at setting the course straight, Sarah.

FAN: You Hope players are really awesome at what you do.

CPP: Hope?

FAN: Wel0- ekf===epflpe

CAN: Huh?

FAN: Shirotekp ek3-2kfjo runnfi nopewt out of t jioweiemd

FAN: Wwr jbrsaekaing uup

FAN: Csko fry dor nt

FAN: [pre gkw

CPP: Uh…

FAN: Feokpf kw time ri ne!

FAN: p l u e

_(doomed aestheticNinja ceased to exist at 11:12 AM)_

AN: …plue?

AN: Isn't that a creature from Fairy Tail or something?

AN: OMG the C is gone!

PP: Lol

PP: It's disappeared on my end too!

PP: Well, I'll come and rescue you, I guess.

PP: But I've got to get past my mother and stuff.

AN: Oh god.

AN: Hey, Sarah?

PP: Yes?

AN: What was that all about the 'doomed timeline' stuff?

AN: You didn't believe that trolling idiot, did you?

PP: Not necessarily

PP: But I think what he said is plausible.

AN: Explain?

PP: Okay, well, you know about the multiple universes theory, right?

AN: Sort of.

AN: That's the theory where for every choice that is made, an alternate universe is created, right?

PP: Good.

PP: I know this sounds far fetched

PP: (lol pokemon joke)

PP: But if what that person on the other end was saying is true,

PP: Then I believe he is you from an alternate future.

PP: I have no idea where the 'doomed' part comes into play, however.

AN: How is it you're able to accept things so readily?

PP: Well, it's better then shoving it away.

PP: I think it's better to listen with open ears.

PP: Even if what the person says seems to be bullcrap.

AN: Makes sense, I guess.

AN: Speaking of bullcrap

AN: Has Kim talked to you about this Sburb game we're all going to play?

AN: Alyx told me that she would be your server player or something like that.

PP: Lol, yes!

PP: Kim pestered me earlier this morning about playing a sort of game where I would be your 'Server Player.'

PP: No idea what that means though.

PP: She ran off before she could explain more other then to download the game.

PP: It was something about Yvonne entering and getting Sophie to enter as well.

PP: She told me to do it quick, though.

PP: She said that the people most in danger at the moment is us four.

PP: You, Sophie, Yvonne, and me.

PP: And she said we need to 'enter' first.

PP: I'm gonna go download the game here in a couple of minutes.

AN: Okay, you do that.

AN: I'm gonna go search the house for my Dad.

AN: He probably has the keys that lead me out of this place.

PP: Lol, okay.

PP: TTYL

_(petitePhsyciatrist ceased pestering aestheticNinja at 11:16 AM)_

I closed my pesterchum application and tucked the phone away into my sylladex. This was crazy. Who was that mysterious person on the other side of the chat claiming to be me from an alternate universe where Sarah was dead? _Was _it me? I really had no idea what the hell was going on.

I shook off the disturbing thought and recollected them for some serious analyzing. Kim was making us all play this game for some reason, and that reason, from bits and hints of what she said, was going to do something really destructive. This game was important to whatever the disaster was, and crucial to our survival.

I was only making some wayward deductions, however. I wasn't too ready to accept what everyone had said, but for some reason, I had the instinctive urge to go along with it.

I shook my head and resolved to think more about the predicament once I had retrieved my computer from outside. I looked towards the kitchen and began the quest to find my father and the keys to outside.

Before I entered the kitchen, I stopped in front of the fireplace to honor a picture of my mother. My mother had been dead for a while. It was in a plane crash on one of her workaholic business trips she often went on. I believe that my father began going delirious when it happened and still acted as if she was still alive, sprucing up the house every weekend for when she would return, even though she never would.

I, on the other hand, had moved on from the death of my mother. I participated in the grieving process, which, according to Sarah, I proceeded through with great skill and wonder. In the end, I think it's what she would have wanted. She wouldn't have wanted me sulking around in some corner wishing that she was back, she'd want me to move on in spite of her death. My father, on the other hand, has yet to receive that message. Although, I find it nostalgically amusing when he sets up dinner for four instead of three. It's like she's still there, to some extent, despite the fact it's made my father insane within our family.

After a quick prayer to my mother, I continued into the kitchen.

The kitchen was dim when I entered. The lighting in my house was never the best. The dark colored walls that lined our house always absorbed it. I made me hate the house with a burning passion.

Speaking of burning, I caught a whiff of cooking meat. Something was broiling in the oven. It was sizzling and curling, I could hear it snap and crackle as my stomach involuntarily rumbled and drool fell from my mouth.

"Bacon," I whispered as I lurched towards the oven.

I loved bacon. I loved it so much. Bacon was amazing. I was four feet away and I could already taste the sweet juices that secreted from the crispy strips of meat. The warm, salty texture of the pork melting within my mouth as I munched away at the heavy scent in the air.

But then I snapped to my senses. If bacon was cooking, then someone had to be watching it closely so that it wouldn't burn. My sister was asleep, so that could only mean one person.

"Dad," I hissed, looking around warily. He was absent from the room, probably hiding and waiting for the ideal time to smack me across the head with his dictionarykind specibus. Despite the fact I was a good fighter, there was no way I was going to get those keys in the condition I was in.

The conversation from yesterday once again resonated within me. I needed to allocate my strife specibus with that sword.

And from the ominous feeling in the room that was creeping up my skin, I needed to do it as soon as possible.

_(aestheticNinja began pestering zombieBehemoth at 11:21 AM)_

AN: Andrew!

AN: You up, bro?

ZB: I am now.

ZB: What do ya need?

AN: Okay, you were talking about how yesterday I needed to allocate my strife specibus, right?

ZB: Yez.

ZB: Oh man, have you done that yet?

AN: Not yet…

ZB: …

AN: I was going to right now!

AN: And I need your help!

AN: Please tell me how to do it!

AN: Quickly! I think my father will appear from behind the counter any minute!

ZB: Okay, calm down there.

ZB: It's pretty eazy.

AN: Why do you use z's instead of s's?

ZB: It'z my typing quirk.

AN: Typing quirk?

ZB: Yez.

ZB: It'z zort of zomething you do with your text to perzonalize it, zo to zay.

AN: Where did you get an idea like that?

ZB: You know how I've been telling you guyz about thoze trollz I've been communicating with?

AN: You mean the ones that keep telling you that they're aliens and better then you in every which way?

ZB: Yez.

ZB: Well, only one doez that.

ZB: The other onez are actually quite friendly.

ZB: But they have all theze perzonalized typing ztyles.

ZB: Zo I created one for myzelf!

ZB: pretty cool, huh?

ZB: They zaid that they would be playing thiz game with us too.

AN: Game?

AN: As in, Sburb?

ZB: MM-hm.

AN: Has Kim been talking to you too?

ZB: Kim? No, man.

ZB: Haven't heard from her yet.

ZB: These trollz are telling me that.

ZB: They zaid that you would be the first to enter, and therefore, be our leader or zomething.

AN: I'm the leader?

ZB: Yep.

AN: But, I'm not your leader, Andrew.

AN: I'm your friend.

ZB: Exactly what a leader would zay.

AN: Huh…okay…

AN: How long have these trolls been telling you about this game?

ZB: For a couple weekz now.

ZB: I downloaded it juzt now.

ZB: Although the trollz zay that I won't be entering for a little bit, so I can relax.

AN: Really?

AN: What else have they said?

AN: Specifically relating to people dying and future selves from alternate universes?

ZB: I'd love to tell you

ZB: But I think I heard zomething ztumbling in the corner of the kitchen.

AN: OMG SHIT!

AN: Quick! Tell me!

AN: How do I allocate my strife specibus?

ZB: Okay, it'z pretty zimple.

ZB: Juzt drag the weapon over to your ztrife zpecibus and allocate it!

AN: I'm confused…

ZB: It'll make zenze, juzt do it! Truzt me!

ZB: I've gtg, zee ya!

AN: Wait! Andrew!

_(zombieBehemoth ceased pestering aestheticNinja at 11:24 AM)_

AN: Dammit!

I quickly threw my phone back into my sylladex. I could already feel the imminent presence of my father pressing down on me from behind. He must have sneaked up on me.

"Hello," I greeted coldly, reaching towards my sylladex to pull out the sword. My father's face was stiff, and his pose unbreakable. He was a solid rock. He held his dictionary high with proud authority. Somewhere on his body, the key's to my freedom lied.

"Dad," I continued smirking slightly as I finished writing the quick poem about the sword I was retrieving. "I won't be running away or talking this time. This time, we fight for real!"

====CONNOR: BE YOUR NEIGHBOR


	8. I--Breakfast Shenanigans

A young lady stands in her room, pondering the many wonders in our world. To her, however, none is more mysterious than the vigorous human spirit. You want to ask this young girl her name, but you would really rather not want to disturb such a person deep in thought. Perhaps we may guess her name?

**====ENTER NAME**

RETARDED CHIPMUNK

Yeah Right.

**====TRY AGAIN**

SARAH BIGNAULT

There we go.

My name is SARAH. I am the current PRESIDENT of the PSYCHOLOGY CLUB at our LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL. I often spend my time reading about SCIENTIFIC THEROIES, but also enjoy playing RPG GAMES and HANGING OUT with my FRIENDS. I wear GLASSES and am in touch with what my MOTHER calls "MY INNER GEEK." I also tend to be OVERLY STUBBORN and ARGUMENTATIVE. I enjoy thinking up STORIES and CHARACTERS, as well as DRAWING SCENES, but I am too IMPATIENT to write. I am fiercely spiritual and love ANIMALS, especially WOLVES. My SPIRITUALITY and fascination with PSYCHOLOGY combine to form my passion for UNDERSTANDING OTHERS. I love PEOPLE and love getting to know them, and because of this, I dislike STEREOTYPES and make efforts to be NON-JUDGEMENTAL. I always try to stay OPTIMISTIC and kindle SPARKS OF LIGHT in the DARKNESS.

My family was preparing to eat breakfast today, like we always do every morning, but that's not why I was in deep thought. Today was Connor's birthday! We we're going to do a lot of fun things today! I was already thinking about the said things when my sister Sophie entered the room.

"Sarah," she started as she poked her head through the doorway. "Kim's pestering you."

"Really?" I replied, being retrieved from my deep thoughts. "Kim? Connor was talking about how yesterday she wasn't answering."

"Well, she's answering now," Sophie shrugged. "Also, you better answer before breakfast. Mom's gonna want us there on time again."

"But the computer's right by the kitchen table," I grumbled as I walked across the floor towards the door. "Well, I guess I can understand why mom doesn't want us to be on the computer during meals."

"Yeah, makes sense," Sophie nodded as I passed here into the main hallway.

Then there was a whoosh of air.

"Sophie! Duck!" I shouted as I turned around and accessed my strife specibus.

Sophie took a little hesitation at obeying my command, but quickly threw herself onto the oriental carpet on the floor. There was a blur of motion above her, but that didn't scare me one bit.

"Dad," I said as I pulled an arrow out from behind me. "You should know now that your canastacardkind is no match for my bowandarrowkind."

I released the bow from its position. It struck the blurred foe dead on. The perpetrator fell to the floor with a satisfying thump. After struggling for a few seconds, the figure rose nonchalantly from his position, pulled the arrow from his knee, and brushed the dust off his body casually as if nothing ever happened.

"Ugh, Dad," I moaned.

My father just shrugged and walked down the stairs. Typical. I always won in my usual strifes against my father. The one I really needed to look out for was my mom. In battle, she was ruthless.

"Hey, sis," Sophie spoke. "You've went up the echeladder again,"

"Oh really?" I answered, looking to see that I had rose to the middle ranged runk of Inscrutable Archer.

"It usually happens when I'm strifeing against our father. You've gained some runks to, right?"

"Yes," my sister admitted as we walked down the stairs. "But you're so much higher then me. Serendipitous Samaritan is a little lower then Inscrutable Archer."

"I would suggest strifeing dad more often," I offered. "Just place yourself out in the open more often and look helpless. That's when he'll strike."

"I'm not as good as you," She grumbled under her breath.

"Nonsense!" I waved off, reaching the bottom of the staircase as I made the motion of ludicrous intent. "If I can shoot down dad in one shot, you should be able to do it in a couple of movements, maybe less! Who knows, you might actually be better then me!"

"Meh," She replied as she lazily shrugged it off.

"Oh, don't give me that, you're a natural when it comes to strife. You just need some practice. I can help you out later today if you'd like."

Sophie's eyes lit up with satisfaction.

"Sounds awesome!" She exclaimed. "Thanks!"

"No problem," I laughed as I entered the kitchen. The computer stood there, glowing brightly with the pesterchum chat opened for all to see. Kim had been waiting patiently, so it was time to answer.

_(acryllicSkyline began pestering petitePhyschiatrist at 10:24 AM)_

AS: Hey!

AS: Listen!

PP: Lolz

PP: I'm listening. What's up, Kim?

AS: I need to talk to you.

AS: Connor's being a bit of a dick at the moment,

AS: So I turned to you.

PP: Oh, ok.

PP: What's going on?

PP: Connor told me you weren't answering him lately.

PP: He said you were preoccupied with something.

AS: I'm always preoccupied with SOMETHING.

PP: Lol :P

AS: But you really shouldn't be worried.

AS: However, my preoccupation involves all of you.

PP: Really? Sounds interesting.

PP: So what's this all about?

AS: I need you to start playing a game with Connor.

AS: Well, as soon as he stops being a dick.

PP: lol, ok, I'll talk to him.

PP: What do I need to do?

AS: You need to be what is called his "Server Player"

PP: Um, ok.

PP: Just a little confused here

PP: But, server player to what?

PP: does this game have a title?

AS: Yes. It's called Sburb.

AS: And it is crucial to our survival.

AS: And it would be in your best interest to download the game as soon as possible.

AS: Hers is the link: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

PP: Oh, ok, sounds cool.

PP: It's going to have to wait, though; I'm at breakfast soon.

AS: Well, don't be too long.

AS: I don't think you would enjoy the consequences of dawdling too long.

PP: Sounds pretty legit.

AS: I'm serious.

AS: Of all the people right now, you, Yvonne, Connor, and Sophie are at the most risk.

AS: You all need to enter first.

PP: What do you mean by that?

AS: I take it you haven't read Homestuck either.

PP: I've heard about it

PP: And it sounds interesting

PP: I just, haven't found time to read it.

PP: Is the comic crucial to understanding the game?

AS: Yes, but you may get the highlights from information on the wiki.

PP: okay, sounds good.

PP: I'll download it as soon as breakfast is over.

PP: Hey, just curious, is Alyx involved in this by any chance?

AS: Yes, I was just about to pester her about it.

AS: Oh! One more thing.

AS: If a Connor from an alternate future pesters you

AS: Just trust him.

AS: Even if he sounds like more of an idiot then he usually does.

PP: lol, I'll keep that in mind.

PP: Hey, just curious

PP: Are you playing the game with us?

AS: In a sense.

AS: My session will be a bit…different then yours

AS: But rest assured, we will still end up working together.

PP: Okay, sounds good.

PP: Should Sophie be warned about this?

AS: Just let her know and have her download the game.

AS: Ultimately, I believe that both of you will be participating in these trials.

AS: Though circumstances may not be ordinary

AS: Considering both of you live in the same house.

PP: Hm, interesting.

PP: I'll keep that in mind.

AS: I've got to go.

AS: Yvonne is about ready to enter, and Sophie needs to be her server player.

PP: Ok.

PP: Talk to you later, I guess.

AS: Okay, bye.

_(acrylicSkyline ceased pestering petitePhsychiatrist at 10:32 AM)_

"Oh my," I spoke aloud as I slowly left my chair and towards the kitchen table.

"What is it?" Sophie called from the living room, where she stayed.

"Kim wants us all to play a game here called Sburb."

"Really?" Sophie asked, entering the kitchen and inching closer to the computer. "What sort of game is it?"

"I have no idea," I shrugged, exiting out of my pesterchum account. "But Kim said that you should download the game as well. She says that it is crucial to our survival or something."

"Oh wow," Sophie shrugged. "I guess I'll download it on the computer downstairs then."

"Okay, sure," I shrugged.

The air in the room chilled.

"Darn it," I muttered. "It's mom."

I quickly tried to reach for my bowandarrowkind, but before I could even access my weapon, my mother appeared from out of nowhere and bludgeoned me in the head with a soft, yet effective blunt weapon.

"Oof" I grunted as I fell to the floor in defeat. The strife was over relatively quickly.

Sophie gasped and ran to my aid. Helping me up, I caught a glimpse of my assailant.

"Mom," I hissed.

My mother just tucked her Salamikind away and walked casually towards the table as she began pulling the various morning dishes from her sylladex. Eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, the whole shebang.

"I take it it's time for breakfast," I asked, standing up with Sophie as my support.

She gave me an acknowledging glare and turned back to the table, indicating that it was time for the meal to begin.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I sighed. I sometimes swore that my mother was insane.

Sophie took her place across from me while my mother an father were seated at either side. My littlest sister, Samantha, was next to Sophie, playing with her food as the rest of us ate silently.

"So," I started, attempting to spark conversation. "What do you think sburb is about, Sophie?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Sophie shrugged as she served herself another pancake. "It sounds like some sort of simulation game."

"Hm, I can see that," I nodded as I ate. "The title is Sburb. It sounds a lot like "suburban."

"Indeed," Sophie replied. "But I wonder why it's so crucial to our "survival"

"I don't know," I contemplated. "Perhaps it could be that the game's theme revolves around survival?"

"Maybe," Sophie shrugged. "It could have to do with a simulated survival game."

"Survival from what, however?" I wondered. "An island? A disaster? A Zombie Apocalypse? Ooh, Andrew would totally dig that one."

"He should play the game too," Sophie suggested.

"Yeah, I'll pester him about it later," I chuckled. "What about the apocalypse in general. I think we will have to survive the apocalypse in general."

"Wait a second," Sophie said as she stopped eating causally in her tracks. " Do you think that this has to do with the strange dreams Connor is having?"

I halted the fork before my mouth.

"I…haven't thought about that," I said. "It seems highly implausible, however."

That's when my pesterchum account began blaring noises from across the kitchen.

"Uh, mom? Can I answer that really quick?" I begged.

My mother just raised her eyebrows.

"Pleeaaaassee? It'll be just a couple of minutes. I promise!"

My mother stared at me for what seemed like an eternity before waving off her denial.

"Thank you!" I smiled as I left the table and headed towards the computer.

_(perpetualMechanism began pestering petitePsychiatrist at 10:51 AM)_

PM: Sqed.

PP: Lol.

PP: Good morning, Alyx.

PP: Sup dog?

PM: Kewl.

PM: Kim just pestered me about this game we're supposed to be playing.

PM: Sburb, it's called?

PP: lol, yes.

PP: Kim pestered me earlier about it too!

PM: Kim said I would be you're server player or something.

PM: Any idea what that means?

PP: No…

PP: But she told me to read up on the wiki about it.

PP: something tells me that this is going to be big.

PM: lol okay.

PM: What gave you this idea that it's gonna be big?

PP: Well, sophie just thought of this.

PP: I know it sounds highly impossible, but…

PP: I just have a feeling that it's true,

PM: Whut?

PP: I think the dreams Connor has been having and this game Kim is talking about are related somehow.

PM: Hm.

PM: Strange…

PP: What?

PM: Connor pestered me a couple minutes ago about the dreams he's been having.

PM: you know those clouds Maddy talks about?

PP: Yeah.

PP: What of it?

PM: Well, Connor says he went to see these "Fortune Telling Clouds" last night while he was dreaming.

PP: Really?!

PM: Yes,

PM: But the thing is, he saw all of us dead.

PP: Oh dear!

PP: I don't like where this is going…

PM: He was pretty torn up about it too…

PM: I was comforting him and stuff about it.

PP: I'm going to pester him here later today…

PP: Should…should I bring this up?

PM: Naw, I wouldn't.

PM: Like I said, he was pretty stirred up.

PM: Best let him tell you on his own time or something.

PP: okay, I guess…

PP: But if he dwaddles too long, I am going to confront him about it.

PM: Okay.

PM: Sounds legit.

PP: I've got to go.

PP: My mother's getting a little antsy.

PM: Omg did I pester you during breakfast?!

PM: I'm so sorry! I forgot that you're family did that.

PP: No, no, it's ok.

PP: I've just gtg.

PM: Okay, pester ya later.

PP: Yeah.

_(petitePsychiatrist ceased pestering perpetualMechanism at 10:54 AM)_

I shuddered silently to myself as I approached the table. This game seemed to be more then it appeared. Something was up. I didn't know how it was possible, but somehow, I believed that this game was connected to Connor's strange dreaming. It was so…strange.

Breakfast ended quickly after that. I rushed back to the computer to begin downloading the game when a person pestered Sophie.

"Sophie!" I called. "Someone's pestering you!"

"I'll answer it downstairs!" she called, running past me and into the dark depths of the basement below.

The basement of our house was what we called our entertainment zone. Down there was where all of my friends and I would gather to play all sorts of games. But today was a bit different. I was supposed to be Connor's server player, and I had no idea what that meant.

Speak of the devil, Connor was pestering me.

_(aestheticNinja began pestering petitePsychiatrist at 11:06 AM)_

AN: Sarah! Sarah!

AN: Look, I know that you're probably eating right now

AN: But this is important!

PP: Hey, no worries, I'm here.

PP: Breakfast just ended.

PP: Talk about ideal timing,

AN: Thank god.

AN: I need you're help.

PP: What happened?

AN: Well, my dad locked me inside the house.

PP: Lol!

PP: Why?

AN: He says in a note it was because of some sort of…

PP: uh…

AN: …text…

PP: …um…

PP: …Connor?

AN: …

PP: Uh oh…

AN: Sarah?

AN: That text you happened to send yesterday…

AN: Just a stroke of curiosity

AN: Nothing too serious, really.

AN: But,

AN: What sort of message did you send to my father?

PP: Um….

PP: It's kinda…profane…

AN: Uh huh…

AN: Interesting…

PP: Uh, ha ha…

PP: Connor?

AN: You…

AN: Texted him to basically fuck off…

AN: …

AN: …

AN: …

AN: What have you done?

I was getting a little angry. Why was Connor being such a jerk? Haven't done anything to deserve his jerkdom. The message I sent to his father wasn't even that profane at all! It was just a kindly message where I told his father to please leave us alone. I was so close to blocking the fellow.

AN: WHAT

AN: HAVE

AN: YOU

Kim was right, the guy was being a bit of a jerk at the moment.

"That's it," I said out loud. "Time to put you out of business for a while."

_(doomed aestheticNinja 10:43 hours from now began pestering current alpha aestheticNinja at 11:09 AM)_

FAN: Whew!

FAN: Looks like I made it just in time!

CAN: FUCKING

CAN: Wait…

CAN: WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY PESTERCHUM HANDLE?

CAN: WHERE'D THIS EXTRA C COME FROM?!

I drew my mouse away from the block button as I stared dumbfounded at the screen. Was…was Connor pranking me? It was so unlike him to do that though…If he was to prank me, he would usually carry out some sort of short live trickery, apologize, and then resume ordinary conversation. I wondered what was going on.

Then I noticed the change to my chumhandle.

CPP: Lol.

CPP: I've got it too!

FAN: Calm down, guys, and listen to me.

FAN: Especially you, Connor.

FAN: I know how angry you can get, so I picked you out.

FAN: You know, 'cause I'm kinda you.

FAN: But from an alternate future.

CPP: Wait, what?

CPP: Is this some sort of elaborate prank?

CAN: I'm with you here, Sarah.

CAN: Who the hell are you?

FAN: I just said it.

FAN: I'm you, from the future.

FAN: Well, an alternate future.

FAN: One where you're dead, Sarah.

CPP: What?!

FAN: Probably shouldn't have said that.

FAN: Anyways, I'm here to avert some upcoming crises that will slide us all into a doomed timeline.

FAN: I don't have long, Cody's time powers don't last forever.

CAN: …time powers?

FAN: Yeah.

FAN: Cody's the Page of Time.

CPP: …Page of Time?

FAN: He has the power to provide timey powers to others.

FAN: He can provide it for himself too, but his real strength is providing it to others.

FAN: Normally, people from doomed timelines cannot converse with the people in the alpha timeline through persterlog means.

FAN: But Cody here's helping me with that little dilemma.

FAN: Man, it's too bad the alpha Delta Session won't have a time player.

FAN: Unlike our doomed Zeta Session.

CAN: What are you talking about?

FAN: Oh, sorry.

FAN: Guess I was rambling there.

FAN: Anyways, long story short.

FAN: Don't get angry at Sarah, Connor!

FAN: If you do, she'll get angry and block you, and that will be her demise!

I was about to leave the chat when I remembered what Kim had told me earlier this morning. Trust the Future Connor. Kim wasn't one to pull a jerk move like that on me, so I went with her word and trusted the Future Connor.

CPP: Huh…

CPP: This is interesting…

CPP: You're from the future, right, Future Connor?

FAN: Yes.

FAN: Well, an alternate future.

CAN: Oh no…

CPP: Hush, Current Connor.

CPP: And this alternate universe.

CPP: You title it as a "Doomed Timeline."

CPP: And you're from what you claim to be a 'doomed timeline'?

FAN: Yes!

FAN: Thank you for understanding, Sarah!

CPP: …Okay, I think I get it.

CPP: Can you please explain my demise?

FAN: Okay, well, you're supposed to be Connor's server player.

FAN: But that doesn't happen, because you refuse to pester him and block him.

FAN: I, well, I mean, Connor was fortunately saved by Sophie so that he could enter the game.

CPP: Sophie?

CPP: My sister?

FAN: But Sophie let me, I mean, Connor into the Zeta Session instead of the Delta Session.

FAN: Since Connor was supposed to enter the Delta session first, the Delta Session ceased to exist on our timeline, and everyone that would be in the Delta Session didn't make it.

FAN: We tried to trudge on, but we cannot proceed within our doomed timeline.

FAN: So Cody and I teamed up to try and save it by going back and changing the course of time!

CPP: Hmm…

CPP: I believe you.

CAN: What?!

CAN: Sarah, you believe this nutjob?

CPP: Connor, the nutjob is YOU

FAN: MM-hm.

CAN: What?

FAN: I'm really glad you were here to witness my attempt at setting the course straight, Sarah.

FAN: You Hope players are really awesome at what you do.

CPP: Hope?

FAN: Wel0- ekf===epflpe

CAN: Huh?

FAN: Shirotekp ek3-2kfjo runnfi nopewt out of t jioweiemd

FAN: Wwr jbrsaekaing uup

FAN: Csko fry dor nt

FAN: [pre gkw

CPP: Uh…

FAN: Feokpf kw time ri ne!

FAN: p l u e

_(doomed aestheticNinja ceased to exist at 11:12 AM)_

AN: …plue?

AN: Isn't that a creature from Fairy Tail or something?

AN: OMG the C is gone!

PP: Lol

PP: It's disappeared on my end too!

PP: Well, I'll come and rescue you, I guess.

PP: But I've got to get past my mother and stuff.

AN: Oh god.

AN: Hey, Sarah?

PP: Yes?

AN: What was that all about the 'doomed timeline' stuff?

AN: You didn't believe that trolling idiot, did you?

PP: Not necessarily

PP: But I think what he said is plausible.

AN: Explain?

PP: Okay, well, you know about the multiple universes theory, right?

AN: Sort of.

AN: That's the theory where for every choice that is made, an alternate universe is created, right?

PP: Good.

PP: I know this sounds far fetched

PP: (lol pokemon joke)

PP: But if what that person on the other end was saying is true,

PP: Then I believe he is you from an alternate future.

PP: I have no idea where the 'doomed' part comes into play, however.

AN: How is it you're able to accept things so readily?

PP: Well, it's better then shoving it away.

PP: I think it's better to listen with open ears.

PP: Even if what the person says seems to be bullcrap.

AN: Makes sense, I guess.

AN: Speaking of bullcrap

AN: Has Kim talked to you about this Sburb game we're all going to play?

AN: Alyx told me that she would be your server player or something like that.

PP: Lol, yes!

PP: Kim pestered me earlier this morning about playing a sort of game where I would be your 'Server Player.'

PP: No idea what that means though.

PP: She ran off before she could explain more other then to download the game.

PP: It was something about Yvonne entering and getting Sophie to enter as well.

PP: She told me to do it quick, though.

PP: She said that the people most in danger at the moment is us four.

PP: You, Sophie, Yvonne, and me.

PP: And she said we need to 'enter' first.

PP: I'm gonna go download the game here in a couple of minutes.

AN: Okay, you do that.

AN: I'm gonna go search the house for my Dad.

AN: He probably has the keys that lead me out of this place.

PP: Lol, okay.

PP: TTYL

_(petitePhysiatrist ceased pestering aestheticNinja at 11:16 AM)_

I sighed as I leaned back in the chair. Something big was going down, I could feel it.

I pulled up the link from Kim's pesterlog and opened the website that hosted the download to the game Sburb. I hastily clicked the download button and watched as a swirling spirograph filled the screen with some catchy 8-bit themed song played in the background.

"Well, now that I have this done," I started, mimizing the colorful download screen and pulling up a tab on my web browser Abraxas. "Let's see what this Sburb game is all about."

I pulled up the MSPA wiki page and began reading the article on Sburb.

"Sburb is the human name for a sandbox-style game that takes place superimposed over the real world," I started.

====SARAH: READ WIKI PAGE


	9. I--Sarah Knows Stuff

"Oh my goodness," I whispered to myself as I browsed through the introduction to the game. "This can't be good."

I quickly exited out of the wiki page and checked up on my Sburb download. It still had a ways to go. Good. I launched from my chair in a worried frenzy.

"Sophie!" I shouted as I ran towards the stairs of the basement. "Sophie! Where are you?"

I walked down the stairs and quickly passed the entertainment section of the basement, an off television hiding within the grey shadows of the room. Faint Pokemon games also littered the floor as well. Passed that, I reached the computer room and threw open the doors.

"Sophie?" I called into the room with worry.

"I'm here."

I turned my head towards the desk of the room. Upon its surface, a newer computer stood. Its screen was glowing as it finished downloading a similar game to the one I was downloading upstairs. As the screen faded after it's 100% complete, the logo of the game, Sburb, appeared, along with words in smaller, purple letters that read "Zeta." Sophie was in the chair by the computer, having turned around to face me casually as if nothing happened.

"Did…did you download the game?" I asked shakily.

"Well, um, yes," Sophie responded. "Yvonne pestered me, and she told me that I needed to be her server player, so, well, I did. I downloaded the game and now I'm playing."

The game's logo screen faded and a control menu window came up. It looked like something from the Sims, but it had controls and feels reminiscent of the spirograph and house logo I had been seeing. It had various functions outlining the borders, and in the center, a bedroom existed with none other then…

"Is that Yvonne?" I asked as I pointed to the screen.

"It looks like it," Sophie confirmed. "Sarah? What is this? What's going on?"

"To be honest, I have no idea," I shrugged. "But Kim seems to know of it. I trust her right now with this. She told me to read the wiki, and, well, I did. And these results that are about to happen, they're not going to be pleasant."

I turned around and began heading back to the other computer so I could connect with Connor.

"Wait, what do you mean it won't be pleasant?" Sophie called as I reached the stairs.

"We have an undetermined yet extremely limited time until—"

The house shook violently then. Something terrible had happened nearby.

"What was that?" Sophie called again. "An earthquake?"

"Not at all," I shouted desperately as I sprinted up the stairs. "It was a meteor! We've got to get this game running and enter before a meteor hits our house and kills us all!"

As soon as I left the basement, the door slammed shut. I turned around desperately and tried to open it, but to no avail.

"Sophie!" I shouted through to the other side. "Sophie! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Sophie shouted her voice through the door, being slightly muffled in the process.

"What happened?" I called back through. "The door won't open!"

"I…I don't know," Sophie replied. "But Benji just connected to me. He's my server player, whatever that means."

"Uh, okay," I replied. "Be careful down there! I'll be back as soon as possible to help you!"

"Okay! But really! I'll be fine!"

I darted through the kitchen and slammed myself back onto the computer. The game had just finished downloading. I quickly pestered Connor to get some updates.

_(petitePsychiatrist began pestering aestheticNinja at 11:34 AM)_

PP: Connor?

PP: are you there?

PP: Do you have you're computer back?

AN: Sarah?

AN: Yeah, I have my computer.

AN: I was able to grab the keys from my dad while we were strifeing.

PP: Wait,

PP: You were strifeing your father?

AN: Yep.

AN: I finally allocated my strife specibus.

PP: What weapon?

AN: Um…

AN: …

PP: Uh.

AN: Okay, please don't laugh when I say this,

AN: But I sort of allocated it with…

AN: A frying pan.

PP: OMG LOLOLOLOLOLOOL1!111!

AN: I told you not to laugh! L

PP: lol I'm sorry.

PP: What happened?

PP: Why u allocate ur strife specibus with a pan?

AN: I'll talk about it later.

AN: I'm a little embarrassed about what happened.

PP: It's okay.

AN: Alright, I was able to get my computer back tho.

AN: I'm in my room right now, downloading the game.

AN: man, this is taking a while.

PP: Okay, whew!

PP: That's good.

AN: Yes(?)

AN: So I'm looking on gamefaqs

AN: And it seems that this game is…really strange…

AN: I've found that these walkthroughs are a little…rushed.

AN: It's like something bad was happening.

PP: Something bad IS happening!

PP: Connor, you might not believe me when I say this,

PP: But there is a meteor heading for us as we speak right now!

PP: We all need to enter this game by following the directions on the wiki!

AN: U mean MSPA?

AN: I tried getting on that just before you called.

AN: The site is down.

PP: What?

PP: What do you mean?

AN: The site went down due to a huge influx of people rushing to read the site.

AN: I can't enter because the whole site crashed.

AN: So I went to the next best thing: gamefaqs

AN: Though none of them seem too reliable.

PP: Oh no!

PP: Well, I guess it's a good thing that I read it before it crashed.

PP: I'm going to help you enter the medium!

AN: The medium?

PP: I'll explain more later.

PP: Right now, we need to get you in!

PP: I'll send you my IP address, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Type it into the Sburb server finder in the client version so I can connect with you!

PP: Please do this, Connor.

PP: All of our lives depend on it!

AN: Okay.

AN: I can understand.

AN: The game finished downloading, so I'll do it right away.

Sure enough, a message popped up in my Sburb launcher. _aestheticNinja wishes to connect with you as your client. Do you accept? _I quickly pressed "Yes" as the screen faded into a more colorful and slightly shorter loading screen. Soon enough, I saw Connor, standing in his room, his computer on. I saw the tan brown walls and the mess of items and art stuff strewn about.

PP: Okay, I'm connected.

AN: Okay, that's cool.

AN: What does that mean?

PP: It means heads up!

I quickly browsed the options that scrolled across the top of the page. It was similar to the one I saw Sophie with, except that instead of seeing Yvonne, I saw Connor. I quickly clicked on the option titled "Phernalia Registry", which I assumed to be the inventory through knowledge of the wiki and strange name usage. Seriously, who would name their inventory the Phernalia Registry? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for creativity, but…

There were three options available. One was a rather blocky contraption known as the Cruxtruder. It had a long pipe sticking out from its center. I would have wondered what it was for, had I not read the wiki. The next was the Totem Lathe, a rather strange device that reminded me of a laser carving machine that one would usually see in some sort of science fiction movie. The third was another blockish device that reminded me of the Cruxtruder, although instead of its pipe, it had a rather strange circular pad on it, with an even stranger, yet oddly familiar symbol on it. I suddenly was reminded of the spirograph I saw from the loading screen. They were connected. The device blatantly displayed it's name across the screen: The Alchemiter. The fourth and final object was a punch card. If I hadn't understood the game, I would have guessed it to be some part of an abandoned modus or something like that. However, having the knowledge of the MSPA wiki, I knew its purpose.

I selected the Cruxtruder and deployed it inside of Connor's room. I saw him jump at the landing of such a beastly device.

AN: What the hell!?

PP: Hey, I said heads up :P

AN: Oh well.

AN: What is this thing?

AN: Is this the Crucifier or something?

PP: Lol, close!

PP: It's the Cruxtruder.

PP: It's a device that deploys a material known as Cruxite.

PP: It will dowel them out in well, dowels.

PP: Cruxite Dowels.

AN: How do I get the Cruxite?

PP: You need to open the top and retrieve it from the pipe.

PP: I'll tell you what to do afterwards.

AN: Okay.

As I saw the figure of Connor run to the Cruxite Dowel, My pesterchum application roared with beeping noises.

_(perpetualMechanism began pestering petitePhysiatrist at 11:38 AM)_

PM: Sqed.

PP: Alyx?

PM: Hey, it's gonna take me a little longer to download the game.

PM: The 'rents are being strange again.

PP: I got it.

PP: But please hurry!

PP: I've looked up the information on this game, Alyx.

PP: It's really bad!

PP: We need to make sure that we get everyone to enter in!

PM: Yeah, I know.

PM: Andrew is gonna connect to me.

PP: Andrew?

PM: Yes.

AN: Hey Alyx.

PM: Hi Connor.

PM: How's it going.  
AN: Splendidly, to be honest.

AN: Although I have a gut feeling my father will be punishing me later today.

PP: Connor, I told you to take the Cruxite Dowel out of the Cruxtruder.

PP: You're just standing there looking distressed.

AN: It's too heavy.

AN: I'm going to need a little help opening it.

PP: One sec.

I zoomed around the house and went into the front hall, where a pile of hockey gear lied. Gosh, Connor's father and sister were quite strange, leaving there Hockey gear all around the front hall strewn about. It must have smelt horrid too. I selected it and brought it up to Connor's room, where I proceeded to drop it onto the Cruxtruder. Sure enough, a brown, shiny dowel popped out of the thing, as well as a countdown suddenly appearing on the sides of the device. After the Brown Dowel landed on the floor, a brown, flashing light emerged from the Cruxtruder, obnoxiously flaring various colors.

PP: uh oh.

AN: Sarah! Why'd you do that!

AN: Now my room smells terrible!

AN: God, it's going to take forever to clean this up.

AN: I really hope that it's not too hard to clean up.

AN: And what is this fairy thing?

AN: It looks pretty,

AN: But it's starting to get annoying.

PM: What the hell? Lol

PP: Connor, do you see that countdown that appeared on the sides of the Cruxtruder?

AN: Yeah…

AN: But it says 7:13

AN: And it's going down

AN: FAST.

AN: I have a bad feeling about this…

PP: GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!

PP: That's the countdown for the meteor impact!

PP: You've got SEVEN MINUTES to enter the medium!

PP: Not only that, but,

PP: Alyx!

PP: You NEED to sign me up as your client.

PP: NOW.

PM: I've got it!

PM: Just give me one minute!

PM: TTYS!

_(perpetualMechanism ceased pestering petitePsychiatrist at 11:42 AM)_

PP: Alight, Connor.

PP: While Alyx is doing that,

PP: I need you to go to the totem lathe I'm about to install here so you can carve ur cruxite dowel out, okay?

AN: Got it.

AN: I'll get a move on then.

I heard a metallic bang from the basement.

"Sophie!" I called.

"Sorry!" I heard a muffled call back. "Benji just deployed the Cruxtruder is all."

Cruxtruder? How was this going to work? I knew that when the process was complete, you, along with your entire house, was transported to the medium. But I wondered to what extent that this would work, you know, with my sibling and I living in the same house.

I shook my head. I had to believe that things were going to work out. Not a snowball's chance in hell we were all going to fail here.

I went into the Phernalia Registry once more and pulled out the Totem Lathe and the Alchemiter. Throwing the Totem Lathe onto the upstairs hallway, which Connor was currently in the process of entering, and the Alchemiter in the patio just outside the Kitchen. The patio was quite nice. If it were any other bright summer day, I would have invited myself over to Connor's house just to read a nice book in one of the several comfortable chairs in the outdoor room. However, today was much too important for such leisurely activities.

I deployed the final object, the punch card, just as Connor reached the Totem Lathe.

AN: Ugh, this thing is really obnoxious.

PP: What, the Cruxite?

AN: No, the little fairy thing following me.

AN: It's like it LIKES me or something.

AN: It's kinda weird.

PP: I believe that it is what's known as a "Kernelsprite."

PP: I believe that you must prototype it before you enter.

AN: Prototype it?

AN: How do I do that?

PP: I believe it is accomplished by throwing something into it.

PP: Like, an object, or an animal.

I suddenly received another alert. _perpetualMechanism would like to connect to you as your server player. Do you accept? _I hastily clicked yes and turned back to Connor.

AN: Okay, well,

AN: I've got something I can prototype it with.

AN: Hang on.

I saw Connor run back towards his room, but then, someone from the other side of the Hallway entered. Someone terrible.

AN: Crap.

PP: What?

AN: It's my sister.

"Crap," I whispered to myself.

PP: Hang on! I'm coming over!

AN: But what about entering the session?

PP: I've had more expierience with strifeing,

PP: So believe me when I tell you that you are NOT ready to go up against her.

PP: While I'm at your house, I'll complete your stuffs.

PP: Meanwhile, you'll come over and complete mine.

PP: It's very simple after you get the carved cruxite dowel.

AN: Okay, gtg!

PP: See you in a few!

_(petitePsychiatrist ceased pestering aestheticNinja at 11:44 AM)_

"We've got four minutes," I whispered to myself as I ran towards the front door. "Let's see if we can make this work."

====MEANWHILE, YEARS AGO...


	10. I--And The Dogs Came Tumbling Down

...BUT REALLY JUST A FEW HOURS AGO...

A young woman stands in her front yard. She is staring off into the sky as if something foreboding is coming for her house. In the background, the barking of several dogs is heard. We could ask this girl her name, but we probably won't hear her over these dogs. We could guess her name.

ENTER NAME====

LETHARGIC SWINE

Really?

TRY AGAIN====

ALYX BENEDICT

Good job.

My name is ALYX. I am the LOUDEST and most ENTERGETIC person anyone has ever met. My MIND often goes off the tracks like a DERAILED TRAIN that just keeps running. Too often I'm told to CALM DOWN and FOCUS, but we all know it ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN. I love COMEDY, and prefer FAST-PACED MUSIC, as slow music tends to make me feel HORRID. Given the choice, I will always choose the BRIGHTEST COLORS and the greatest CONTRAST. I enjoy ENGINEERING and SCIENCE, as well as ART, though it's not at its best since I never FINISH. I prize my INTELLGENCE, and enjoy things that express a DEEPER MEANING. I adore INTELLECTUAL DEBATES and PHILOSOHPY for this reason. I am often intolerant with CHILDREN, but patient when it comes to SOLVING PROBLEMS and FIXING THINGS. Because of my intolerance, I can be a bit DARK and PESSIMISTIC at times, however, I am mostly HAPPY and OPTIMISTIC.

Oh, and you all just lost THE GAME.

Ah, yes! Today was the day! It was Connor's birthday! I couldn't wait to hang out with all my friends, and hopefully everyone wasn't tearing each other apart like they usually do.

The front yard was neat and orderly to some extent, like it usually was, but this was only a ruse to protect the ordinary passerby from the foul backyard. My parents run a foster home for dogs, and the backyard became one of the most horribly smelling of places in the entire city. Sometimes, I wonder if there's an ordinance against the stench.

However, I would have to make do. The sun was shining, and after a few chores I had to take care of, it was going to be a great day!

Then, I felt a shiver down my spine.

"Dad! I know you're there!" I shouted into the general area of the vicinity. "You know that I'm rising up the echeladder quite quickly! Just come out and show yourself-"

A large, slimy assailant interrupted me to my right, sending me flying halfway across the lawn.

When I came to, I saw my father's glare over me, and he picked up the large squid and walked back into the house.

"Yeah, you better run!" I shouted after him, shaking my fist.

"Damn, Dad's squidkind is so annoying, why cant they just switch to khopeshkind like me? It would make life so much easier."

My phone started buzzing, signaling that someone was trying to pester me.

"Who could that be?" I groaned, drawing my phone to retrieve the said object from my Sketch Modus.

"Oh god, it's her."

_(artisticPride began pestering perpetualMechanism at 9:56 AM)_

AP: Hello, Alyx.

AP: :)

PM: UGGHH.

PM: What do you want, Caitlyn?

AP: I just want to talk.

PM: There's a difference between talking and constantly telling me I'm a worthless piece of shit!

AP: Am I telling you you're a worthless piece of shit?

PM: You will

PM: I just know you will!

AP: Relax and take a chill pill

AP: I'm not here to berate you're art skills.

AP: Besides, it's more fun to do that to my Hubby :)

PM: Connor isn't your "hubby" anymore.

PM: Connor wasn't even your "hubby" to begin with!

PM: Connor just agreed to do it for some sort of silly part in a silly movie project.

PM: He thought you guys could be friends, but then…

PM: Then he decided to get away from you

PM: Because you can be such an incessant b*tch!

AP: Oh my, censoring the word, "Bitch," Alyx.

AP: What are you, scared to swear?

AP: Scaredy Cat

AP: Why don't you just go crawl back into that safe fuzzy house you made?

AP: 'casue you're not brave enough to face the REAL world.

PM: See what I mean?!

PM: You SAY that you won't call me a worthless piece of crap, and then you blatantly CONTINUE to harass me!

AP: But I didn't call you a worthless piece of crap.

PM: The SAME FRIGGEN PRINCIPLES APPLY!

PM: Instead of being this big legalistic asshole all the time,

PM: Why don't you just SUCK it UP and be a NICE GUY for once!

PM: I bet Connor would forgive you and we can ALL be friends.

PM: But that's not gonna happen unless you BE COOL FOR ONCE!

PM: Until that day comes,

PM: Stay AWAY from my friends, stay AWAY from my family,

PM: And most importantly,

PM: Stay away from ME.

AP: lol, ur so funny to mess with, Alyx.

AP: Unfortunately for you, you will have to deal with me a bit longer.

PM: What?

AP: You see, there's this game we're going to play.

PM: Why the fuck would I play a game with you of all people?

PM: I'd sooner take an arrow to the knee then play a game with you!

AP: The best part about that is, well

AP: You really don't have a choice.

PM: What?!

AP: Although from what I know, you and I will be in separate sessions,

AP: So you won't have to deal with me as much ;)

AP: Kim'll probably tell you all about it later.

AP: she's setting this stuff up like some sort of game master in D and D

PM: Fuck you.

AP: Oh my, Alyx, really?

AP: SWEARING?

AP: How barbaric and unfeeling of you.

PM: AAAUUGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

_(perpetualMechanism blocked artisticPride at 10:01 AM)_

I slammed my phone out of the pesterchum application and groaned loudly. Caitlyn was such an insufferable bitch. Why was she annoying me on today of all days? I swear to fucking God, she is so fucking annoying!

"Auuugghhh!" I screamed to the sky, just as I heard a large round of barking from the house.

"God dammit," I muttered. The dogs were acting up _again._

I walked around the house to the backyard, where I proceeded to hold my nose in disgust. One of the dogs had dug something up. It held the rusted object in it's mouth while panting profusely.

"Uh, thanks, boy," I strangely nodded to the dog as I pulled the heavy object from his strong jaws. It looked like a stick, but upon further inspection, the "stick" had a hook and a threading hole, and it looked to be none other then—

"Is this a harpoon?" I said out loud, looking in awe at the hunting weapon. What was a _harpoon_ doing buried in my backyard? I lived nowhere near the ocean, and I know that the previous owners of the house were not avid whalers. In fact, I thought whaling was illegal in the country of the US, unless you were an Eskimo or something. Yeah, that must be it.

As I walked inside, my pesterchum app started to buzz again. This time, it was from friendlier people.

_(wackyTyrannosaur began pestering perpetualMechanism at 10:07 AM)_

WT: Hey, Alyx.

PM: Oh.

PM: Hello, Maddy.

PM: What's up?

WT: Oh, you know,

WT: Being super awesome and stuff.

WT: The use.

PM: I see.

PM: Is there any reason that you pestered me this morning?

PM: other then to tell me how kewl u r?

WT: heehee, actually, yes.

PM: Oh my! Plot twist!

WT: Yes indeed

WT: Has Andrew pestered you of late?

PM: Not that I'm aware of.

PM: Is there a reason that you wish to speak with him?

WT: No, not at all.

WT: It's just, well,

WT: I'm a bit interested in him.

PM: U mean u have feeling for him?

WT: HELL.

WT: NO.

WT: YOU.

WT: MOTHER.

WT: FUCKER.

PM: Lol calm down I was only kidding. :P

PM: We do live in the same neighborhood, but I haven't seen him since yesterday.

PM: Why are you interested in him?

WT: You see, Andrew has been in contact with a certain alien race known as trolls.

PM: lolwut?

WT: Trolls, my dear,

WT: Trolls.

PM: Are you sure that they weren't _Internet _trolls?

WT: Oh no, they are actual trolls.

PM: Um, like,

PM: Under the bridge ima gobble u up trolls?

WT: No,

WT: Although they are very similar to both of your descripting assumptions.

WT: As in the race, not the Internet scammer or the mythical creature that they may or may not be named after.

WT: These trolls are going to join us in the game we're playing.

PM: Oh god, are you in alliance with that bitch?

WT: What?

PM: CAITLYN YOU BASTARD!

WT: No! I haven't spoken to Caitlyn all day!

PM: Oh.

PM: Sry.

WT: It's Kay.

WT: Anyways, the clouds told me that there are trolls here

WT: But Andrew's not answering his pesterchum right now.

WT: But, that can't be helped.

WT: Anyways, there is an alien race known as the trolls.

WT: And since the game will be playing is based off a webcomic Homestuck

WT: Well, if I am told correctly by the clouds

WT: Well, I have a feeling that the Trolls will be joining us in our session.

WT: Well,

WT: Sessions, if I the clouds said so correctly.

PM: The clouds told you all that?

PM: Okay, forgive me for sounding mean,

PM: But I just really doubt that.

PM: These cloud dreams you're having.

PM: Can you prove it?

WT: Yep.

WT: For instance, you are holding a harpoon in you're hand right now.

PM: What?

WT: your dog dug it up about five minutes ago.

WT: And you are holding it right now.

PM: Okay, I'm a little creeped out.

PM: Are you watching me right now?

WT: In a way, yes.

PM: O_0

WT: Don't worry, I'm nowhere near your house.

WT: I'm at my house, watching you through a fenestrated wall.

WT: Also, the clouds in Skaia say so.

PM: …

PM: Can you explain to me what's going on?

WT: From the clouds in Skaia, I was able to piece together the past, the present, and the future into one, large story.

WT: I know everything that is going to happen.

WT: Even the end to our story.

WT: And let's just leave my thoughts on the curtains closing at this.

WT: Our story isn't going to end pretty.

WT: That's why I've devised a plan to keep us from that horrible ending.

PM: Um, okay.

PM: Why?

WT: Didn't I just tell you?

WT: Our story isn't going to have a happy ending.

PM: It's not?

WT: No.

WT: Well,

WT: Not unless I do something about it.

WT: I gotta go.

WT: See ya.

PM: Okay.

PM: See ya, I guess.

_(perpetualMechanism ceased pestering wackyTyrannosaur at 10:16 AM)_

I closed the pesterchum app even more confused then before. What did Maddy mean by not having a happy ending? Come to think about it, what story was Maddy even _talking _about? I was confused, and a little frightened at how she said it.

Sure enough, at the most inconvenient timing of all things, another pester from another friend.

_(hardcoreXenophobia began pestering perpetualMechanism at 10:17 AM)_

HX: Hello, Alyx!

HX: ^^

HX: How's it going?

PM: Oh, hey Lora.

PM: How's it going?

HX: Heehee, well, to be honest!^^

HX: How are you?

PM: Tbh, Lora, I'm a little scared.

HX: Oh?

PM: Yeah.

PM: You see, Maddy was pestering me,

PM: And, well, let's just say this.

PM: She said some things that kinda worried me.

HX: Oh no :(

HX: What kind of things?

PM: She said we were playing a game,

PM: And that we were going to meet some trolls or something,

PM: It was going to be big,

PM: Oh god, let me skip the petty details.

PM: Well, in the end,

PM: She said that we weren't going to have a happy ending.

PM: Idk what that means,

PM: But I have a feeling that it's not good.

HX: Well, of course it's not good, silly!

HX: If it's not a good ending, it's probably a bad ending!

HX: Maybe I'm not an expert at this,

HX: But from my experience,

HX: Bad endings don't tend to be good.

HX: In fact, bad endings tend to be BAD.

HX: Hence, their namesake. :P

PM: Well, yeah.

PM: I'm still worried tho.

PM: Who wouldn't be?

PM: If I had the choice between a good ending and a bad ending,

PM: I would probably choose the good ending.

HX: Oh, Alyx, Alyx, Alyx…

HX: you worry too much!

HX: Sometimes, you just need to lead with your heart, and everything will shine through!

PM: Not to be mean, but that sounds really cliché…

HX: Cliché or not, it's pretty true.

HX: Have faith that you'll do the right thing when the time comes.

HX: Who knows? There might be a happy ending at the end of this rainbow!

PM: How do you know it's going to be a rainbow?

HX: The funny thing is, I don't!^^

HX: Just worry about yourself for now,

HX: Take life as it comes.

HX: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery.

HX: what matters now is here and now.

HX: That's why it's called the present!^^

PM: You stole that from kung fu panda.

HX: Doesn't make it any less true, honey! XP

HX: The problem with you is that you always overanalyze things and end up jumping to conclusions a lot.

HX: And not to be mean, but they're usually pessimistic.

HX: Just laugh a bit like you do whenever you're happy.

HX: When the time comes to be serious, just go with your heart.

HX: There are some things that you just think about, Alyx.

PM: There are also situations where listening to your heart can get you into deep shit.

HX: Lol, I guess so XD

HX: Anyways, spread my knowledge to others.

HX: If what Maddy said is true, then you're probably not the only one worried as hell about to experience a blizzard.

HX: If we're going to make this a happy ending, then we're going to need all the happiness and hope we can muster!

PM: Haha, I guess so.

HX: ^^

PM: Anyways,

PM: Is there a reason you pestered me this morning?

HX: Oh yeah! I almost forgot!

HX: Today's Connor's Birthday, right?

PM: Yes.

HX: Good! I better wish him a happy birthday and give him this awesome gift!

PM: He asked you to give him a gift?

PM: He didn't tell me anything…

HX: Lol no, he didn't.

HX: In fact, he specifically told me NOT to give him a present.

HX: Buuuttt…

HX: I'm doing it anyways!^^

HX: I am SUCH a good person uvu

PM: Huh, okay.

PM: Well, I got him a card, but I was going to give that to him later today.

HX: Oh, I mailed him is gift.

HX: He should get it….

HX: right….

PM: …

HX: About…

PM:…..

HX: …

PM: …well?

HX: Hm?

PM: Aren't you going to complete that little sentence.

PM: Like by saying "…NOW!" to represent that Connor is simultaneously opening his mailbox and instantly pulling out your package in a synchronized fashion?

HX: Well,

HX: I was ABOUT to…

HX: But for some reason, I think not!

PM: Really? Why?

HX: IDK call it women's intuition or something

HX: But I don't think he's opening his package right now.

HX: In fact, I don't think he even opened his mailbox!

HX: Although I KNOW for a fact that he's not awake.

HX: Lil' jerkyman's probably asleep atm, like he always is. XP

PM: Ok.

PM: I gtg for now.

PM: Ttyl!

HX: Ok! ^^

_(hardcoreXenophobia ceased pestering perpetualMechanism at 10:21 AM)_

As I looked up from my phone, I was instantly slammed with another one of my father's cephalopod attackers.

"Wonderful," I grumbled, removing the squid from my face, holding the poor little creature in my arms as it wriggled slowly. My father stood in the doorway to the back of our house, holding a large, empty bucket and pointing at the deck.

"Yeah, yeah, Dad," I rolled my eyes. "I'll clean the dogs and stuff."

Dad turned back into the house, completely disregarding me from that point after.

"Darn dad," I mumbled under my breath as I called one of my dogs over. The squid in my hands still flopped its slimy tentacles about. I began to feel sorry for the little creature, and filled the bucket with water and threw him in.

"There ya go, lil' buddy," I grinned at the squid. It stood still in the water for a few seconds, but before long, he splashed around and was lively as ever.

Then I turned to my harpoon. What was I going to do with it? My dog just found it buried in our yard, why was it even there? How did this thing even _get _here?

Before I could ask myself further questions, the harpoon disappeared right from my eyes.

"What the hell?" I screeched aloud, falling back onto the deck next to my dog and the squid.

"How…if…when…?"

Then, oh course; to make everything worse, my pesterchum application began buzzing again.

"That's it," I shouted. "Sorry, guys, but I can't pester you right now!"

I grumpily went back to my chore, silently cursing under my breath as I ignored the insistent buzzing from my modus.

_(acrylicSkyline began pestering perpetualMechanism at 10:33 AM)_

AS: Hey.

AS: Alyx?

AS: Are you there?

AS: All right, I'm going to assume that you're taking care of dogs at the moment

AS: So I'll just leave this message here for you to read at your convenience later.

AS: I believe that you will receive it when you are not as busy.

AS: I have found the link to a game that we will all play.

AS: Do not ask questions, I have already had the displeasure of dealing with Connor and another significantly more satisfying encounter with Sarah.

AS: You are to be Sarah's server player in this mess.

AS: Not Connor's, not Andrew's, not anyone else.

AS: It absolutely HAS to be Connor.

AS: I highly encourage you to read either MSPA Wiki or Homestuck so that this game may make more sense as you trudge along.

AS: As for me, I have work to do.

AS: The link is here; XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AS: And one more thing: do it as soon as possible.

AS: Good-bye.

_(acrylicSkyline ceased pestering perpetualMechanism at 10:37 AM)_

"Whew!" I gasped, wiping sweat from my brow. The dogs happily barked as they ran about in the horrid yard. I sighed, careful not to inhale the almost toxic scent of the yard and ducked into the house to avoid the happily barking dogs.

I was about halfway done with my chores, and was already aching for a break. I flopped down upon a large, cushy chair in the living room and lazily gazed around the messy house. Man, my parents were weird. They collected all sorts of weird junk. Perhaps some of the things were given to my parents on special occasions, such as weddings, funerals, and birthdays, but most of the objects came from garage sales and hoarding habits. I audibly scorned the miscellaneous materials and stared up at the bland popcorn ceiling.

Speaking of birthdays, I better have pestered Connor to see how it was going. Connor tended to be a late sleeper though, and the fact of Connor not picking up his phone because he'd sleep right through his message would be kind of problematic. One time, I tried calling Connor around five before school started in order to get his ass up and to the building on time. It worked for a week, but then after that, he just ended up sleeping right through his phone. Seriously, who does that?

But as I pulled out my phone, I realized that the previous pester had been from someone other then Connor; it was the one I ignored while I was busy taking care of the dogs.

"Crap," I muttered, "Skimming through the message Kim had sent me. "What the hell am I supposed to be doing here? What game?"

I quickly sprung from my chair and waltzed over to a small desktop computer by my old laptop. I considered using the desktop at first, but then I recalled that the computer was broken; merely just another pat of my parents whimsically devastating collection of items.

I swear, I think I could score big if I pawned some of this stuff.

I retrieved the laptop from the desk and pulled it over the chair, where I instantly searched the Internet for the url code Kim had gave to me.

"What the hell is Sburb?" I said aloud. The game looked incredibly vague. I didn't even know what it was about, other then the whole description saying that the stakes would be higher then ever and stuff. I didn't even know what sort of genre the game was. Whatever the genre though, Kim did say that we would be playing with everyone, and that included Sarah and Connor. I guess no matter what type of game it was, whether it was science fiction or fantasy; it would be fun to play with them. And to top it all off, the game was free, however, that was a sure sign that the file could have been laced with viruses that could potentially break my laptop just like it did with my desktop.

That's when my pesterchum app on my computer began going off. This time, it was Connor.

"Looks like Sleeping Beauty finally woke up," I giggled helplessly as I clicked on the name aetheticNinja.

_(aestheticNinja began pestering pertetualMechanism at 10:46 AM)_

AN: Hey, uh, Alyx?

AN: Are you there?

AN: I…just need someone to talk to I guess…

PM: Yeah, I'm here.

PM: Wassup, birthday boy?

AN: I just feel really confused about all this stuff.

AN: I mean, the dream stuff got really weird last night.

I paused. Dream stuff? Connor, Maddy, and Lora have some pretty strange theories on this. But, I guess it couldn't hurt to ask.

PM: Really? How?

PM: Tell me.

AN: Well, Kell recommended that I go see the clouds last night.

AN: You know, the ones Maddy always talks about?

AN: But I saw…really weird visions and stuff.

PM: Oh my,

PM: As in, future stuffs?

AN: Future stuffs.

AN: There was this weird purple guy that kept reappearing.

AN: Idk who he is, but he reminds me of someone.

AN: Someone I know…

PM: Weird.

PM: Was I in any of the visions?

AN: A few.

AN: One, you're with me wearing purple pajamas

AN: And another, you're-

AN: Oh.

AN: Oh god…

PM: What?

PM: What's going on?

AN: Alright, don't freak out when I say this, but…

AN: I saw you dead.

I gasped loudly before turning behind me to make sure my parents didn't hear me. If they did, and they found out I was not yet complete with the chores they had given me, well, there would be Hell to pay.

Either way, Connor had seen me dead. This was not playing well in my mind.

PM: Me? Dead?!

AN: Yes!

AN: And it wasn't just you!

AN: It was everyone!

AN: Sarah, Andrew…

AN: All of us!

AN: And worst of all,

AN: My dad was dead too!

AN: What does this mean?!

PM: Hmm…

PM: Well, remember how Sarah said that dreams like this are usually frightening so that they can stick out to us?

AN: yeah…

AN: But, I still don't get it too well…

AN: It all feels so real…

AN: I'm terrified.

AN: I really am.

I tried to think of comforting words, but I just couldn't find the right thing to say. But then I quickly thought back to the conversation between Lora and I. Well, she did say to pass on her hope to others. I guess I could start with Connor.

PM: Well, just because it's predicting the future doesn't mean that it IS the future.

PM: I wouldn't worry too much about it.

PM: I believe that the future isn't set in stone, even if we are told it.

PM: In the end, our choices ultimately depict the path that we will take.

PM: Just because someone says it's gonna happen doesn't mean that it's gonna happen.

PM: And if it's true, heck

PM: I have faith that you'll do the right thing when the right choices are presented.

PM: And me vice versa.

AN: …you're absolutely right, Alyx.

AN: Thanks for that. I was just getting really freaked out there.

PM: Hey, no problem.

AN: All right.

PM: Hey, Kim pestered me earlier this morning.

PM: She was trying to talk to you about this game you were supposed to be playing?

AN: Oh god.

AN: Not about her.

PM: Why?

AN: She was pestering me last night about some stupid game.

Oh yeah, Kim did mention that in her pesterlog…

AN: It got really bad, and I just banned her in the end.

PM: Well, she talked me into playing the game.

AN: You're playing this Sburb game with her?

PM: Nah, not with her.

PM: I was actually planning on playing it with you.

AN: Really?

PM: Yeah, you're pretty fun to play with.

PM: But Kim said that I absolutely HAD to play with Sarah as her "server player" or something.

PM: But, hey, she's fun to play with too, so I'm not complaining.

AN: Server player?

PM: You should talk to Kim, she'll give you the basics.

PM: That way we can all play together!

PM: Although you're going to have to start talking to Kim again on that.

AN: Ugh.

AN: Okay.

PM: Also, have you downloaded the game onto your computer yet?

AN: No.

AN: I have the website open on my browser, however.

PM: Okay.

PM: Haven't downloaded it either, but I plan on doing it ASAP after taking care of my dogs.

_Despite the fact it may have a virus, _I told myself.

AN: Sounds good.

PM: Okay, ttyl

_(perpetualMechanism ceased pestering aestheticNinja at 10:49 AM)_

I began thinking it all over. What did this game have so much that Kim had to have us play? Why was she gone for more than two days working on it? What was going on?

Only one person to turn to who could make sense out of this flurry: Sarah.

_(perpetualMechanism began pestering petitePsychiatrist at 10:51 AM)_

PM: Sqed.

PP: Lol.

PP: Good morning, Alyx.

PP: What's up?

PM: Kim just pestered me about this game we're supposed to be playing.

PM: Sburb, it's called?

PP: lol, yes.

PP: Kim pestered me earlier about it too!

PM: Kim said I would be you're server player or something.

PM: Any idea what that means?

PP: No…

PP: But she told me to read up on the wiki about it.

PP: something tells me that this is going to be big.

PM: lol okay.

PM: What gave you this idea that it's gonna be big?

PP: Well, sophie just thought of this.

PP: I know it sounds highly impossible, but…

PP: I just have a feeling that it's true,

PM: Whut?

PP: I think the dreams Connor has been having and this game Kim is talking about are related somehow.

PM: Hm.

PM: Strange…

PP: What?

PM: Connor pestered me a couple minutes ago about the dreams he's been having.

PM: you know those clouds Maddy talks about?

PP: Yeah.

PP: What of it?

PM: Well, Connor says he went to see these "Fortune Telling Clouds" last night while he was dreaming.

PP: Really?!

PM: Yes,

PM: But the thing is, he saw all of us dead.

PP: Oh dear!

PP: I don't like where this is going…

PM: He was pretty torn up about it too…

PM: I was comforting him and stuff about it.

PP: I'm going to pester him here later today…

PP: Should…should I bring this up?

PM: Naw, I wouldn't.

PM: Like I said, he was pretty stirred up.

PM: Best let him tell you on his own time or something.

PP: okay, I guess…

PP: But if he dwaddles too long, I am going to confront him about it.

PM: Okay.

PM: Sounds legit.

PP: I've got to go.

PP: My mother's getting a little antsy.

PM: Omg did I pester you during breakfast?!

PM: I'm so sorry! I forgot that you're family did that.

PP: No, no, it's ok.

PP: I've just gtg.

PM: Okay, pester ya later.

PP: Yeah.

_(petitePsychiatrist ceased pestering perpetualMechanism at 10:54 AM)_

I sighed loudly as I closed my pesterchum app. I flopped my body over the chair for the umpteenth time as I stared up at the ceiling.

"What to do…"

I heard a clanging sound in the kitchen, springing me up from my previous position of stressed relaxation. It was my father, in the kitchen once more, using his squids to clean the kitchen.

"I've told you multiple times, dad," I sighed. "You need to use a sponge, not a squid."

My dad gave me a blank, yet intense stare for a while, before pulling up a newspaper headline from three years ago. The headline read this:

**LIVE SQUIDS PROVEN TO BE MORE USEFUL THEN SPONGES WHEN CLEANING TABLETOPS!**

"Dad," I started slowly once I read the headline. "That's a tabloid. They aren't very respectful in terms of useful or true information."

My father shook his head and left the kitchen nonchalantly, leaving the squid happily squirming in a large puddle of water.

I sighed and picked up my phone. I needed to figure out this Sburb thing, no matter the costs.

From searching sburb on google, the first result that appeared was from a site called MS Paint Adventures Wiki. I groaned as the site took literally a forever and a half to load. The bandwidth in my house was never really the greatest. I groaned as I began to analyze the article from the Wiki site. I never really trusted wiki sites that much. They often displayed false information from those crazy editing trolls on the Internet. But, wiki sites seldom had this problem, so I began my expedition as I delved into the article.

"Sburb," I began, "Is the human name for a sandbox-style game that takes place superimposed over the—"

The site went blank.

"Dammit!" I shouted at the screen, displaying a formal, yet artificial statement of apology.

"We are sorry," I read infuriatingly, "But the website is experiencing an overflow of visitors at the moment. Please refresh the page and try again."

I couldn't believe it. The website fucking crashed.

What the fuck?

Then, my phone began buzzing once more. I sighed another repetitive sigh and looked both ways for either of my parents. It was Andrew. What did he want?

_(zombieBehemoth began pestering perpetualMechanism at 11:21 AM)_

ZB: Yo, Alyx!

PM: Andrew?

PM: Why are you pestering me at a time like this?

PM: We're all going to hang out around noon, if you'd like

PM: But if my parents catch me pestering you guys, I'll be in big trouble!

ZB: Relax, cauze we're not going to hang out today.

PM: What?

ZB: Unfortunatley, there'z been a change of planz…

ZB: The trollz have informed me that we will be entering zoon

Ugh, the trolls…

ZB: And I am to be your zerver player.

PM: My server player?

PM: But we were going to hang out today, and celebrate Connor's birthday.

PM: I think it's a little wasteful to be spending that time together on a video game rather then spending it on worthwhile experiences that we can all have as a group.

ZB: Yez, well, we'll all meet in the game.

PM: What?

ZB: not a whole lot of time to explain, but,

ZB: We'll all be together within the confinez of the game.

ZB: But firzt, we need to all enter!

ZB: If we don't in the allotted amount of time, bad thingz will happen!

PM: Huh, uh, okay…?

ZB: just truzt me on this one, okay?

ZB: Download the game, and I'll connect to you az a zerver player, whilst you connect to Zarah as her zerver.

PM: Alright, but

At that moment I was hit with a large, furry animal. It yelped as it rolled over my face and knocked me clear out of the chair and onto the floor.

PM: ekbfeiwrbg;ovbw

ZB: Huh?

PM: lebfluqf 2pqn og

PM:eq bgli3ufuighqbinr2i

PM:efgu1gp1fb143gt7-98h43ugpbnifpuq23

ZB: Alyx? Are you okay?

_(perpetualMechanism ceased pestering zombieBehemoth at 11:25 AM)_

I graoned as I rubbed my head.

"Mom," I hissed as I picked myself up and glared at her. She blankly glared back, holding one of the dogs in a suspiciously weapon like manner.

"I don't think so, Mom," I shouted, calling my khopesh from my strife specibus. "You aren't going to take me on that easily!"

Of course I was bluffing. There was no way I could beat my mother at the rank I was. I was a mere Rambunctious Researcher while my mother has had an unbelievable amount of experience. But I had to take the chance. My mother had seen me pestering people on my phone. If I didn't strife against her and succeed, Not only would she take away my phone, but also any chance of hanging out with Sarah or Connor anytime before school started next year.

This moment was a do or die moment.

I began my announcing an obnoxious battle cry, charging an aggrieve against my mother, however, she merely abjured my attack and sent me flying back into a rather large, disorganized stack of home videos.

I growled loudly as I slid under my mother, attempting to assail me, but I managed to sneak up from behind and charge an assault on her.

"Take this!" I shouted.

Too late, she charged another abjure on me, sending me flying into the kitchen.

I rubbed my head in agony before I realized that I was in the shadow of my mother. I frantically tried to abscond from the situation, but to no avail, my mother was going to release an aggress on me, ending the strife with her as victor.

"No," I whispered.

There was sound of a large explosion nearby, shaking my mother to the floor before she had the chance to release her final attack on me.

I was a little frightened by the sound, but also relieved; as it bought me some time to do a successful abscond. I flew across the counter back into the living room, quickly captchalouguing both the computer and my phone before making a beeline for the staircase.

Once to the second floor, I reached my room, and slammed my door shut.

"Phew," I sighed as I breathed relief, drawing my phone and taking it out from my sylladex. Then, I felt it.

"Oh," I said to myself, looking at my echeladder. "It seems I've risen a few ranks."

Indeed I had. I had rose two ranks from Rambunctious Researcher to Mystic Myopic Mistress. The title was a bit scandalous, but I would have to make do with the strange names my echeladder gave me later. It was time to pester Sarah.

_(perpetualMechanism began pestering petitePhysiatrist at 11:38 AM)_

PM: Sqed.

PP: Alyx?

PM: Hey, it's gonna take me a little longer to download the game.

PM: The 'rents are being strange again.

PP: I got it.

PP: But please hurry!

PP: I've looked up the information on this game, Alyx.

PP: It's really bad!

PP: We need to make sure that we get everyone to enter in!

PM: Yeah, I know.

PM: Andrew is gonna connect to me.

PP: Andrew?

PM: Yes.

AN: Hey Alyx.

PM: Hi Connor.

PM: How's it going.  
AN: Splendidly, to be honest.

AN: Although I have a gut feeling my father will be punishing me later today.

PP: Connor, I told you to take the Cruxite Dowel out of the Cruxtruder.

PP: You're just standing there looking distressed.

AN: It's too heavy.

AN: I'm going to need a little help opening it.

PP: One sec.

PP: uh oh.

AN: Sarah! Why'd you do that!

AN: Now my room smells terrible!

AN: God, it's going to take forever to clean this up.

AN: I really hope that it's not too hard to clean up.

AN: And what is this fairy thing?

AN: It looks pretty,

AN: But it's starting to get annoying.

PM: What the hell? Lol

PP: Connor, do you see that countdown that appeared on the sides of the Cruxtruder?

AN: Yeah…

AN: But it says 7:13

AN: And it's going down

AN: FAST.

AN: I have a bad feeling about this…

PP: GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!

PP: That's the countdown for the meteor impact!

PP: You've got SEVEN MINUTES to enter the medium!

PP: Not only that, but,

PP: Alyx!

PP: You NEED to sign me up as your client.

PP: NOW.

PM: I've got it!

PM: Just give me one minute!

PM: TTYS!

_(perpetualMechanism ceased pestering petitePsychiatrist at 11:42 AM)_

"Seven minutes?" I gasped. "I guess we better get things rolling."

I drew my computer out of my sylladex and began hooking the computer up to the wall. I heard faint barking from outside as I slowly pulled up the internet and began downloading the Sburb game using the url that Kim had sent to me. I sent Sarah a message asking if she wanted me to be her server player.

"Looks like it's go time," I whispered to myself as I looked out the window.

Half of my neighbor hood had disappeared, being replaced by a large, recent crater.

"Holy fuck," I cursed under my breath as I received an approved message from Sarah.


End file.
